Baybars Altuntas, one of leading businessmen in Turkey - I am interested in investing in mobile technology projects in Serbia

Baybars Altuntas

It seems that the next week will be crucial for several entrepreneurs and companies in Serbia looking for investments, given that Belgrade Venture Forum (November 19 and 20) and the Belgrade Stock Exchange`s International Conference (November 19) will be held almost at the same time. When it comes to the former, arrival in Belgrade has already been confirmed by several world-renowned investors coming from the Silicon Valley, Turkey and the region. One of them is Baybars Altuntas, who was declared the Businessman of the Year in Turkey two years ago. Altuntas is the president of the Angel Investment Association of Turkey and the owner of Deulcom International, the company he founded as a student with only USD 400. Twenty years later Baybars Altuntas is a multibillionaire advising business start-ups.

In a talk with eKapija, Baybars Altuntas speaks of all the things you should know to attract the attention of investors and get the startup capital.

eKapija: Which sectors or types of projects would you like to invest in? What projects do you expect to attract your attention at the forthcoming Balkan Venture Forum?

- Because I am a dragon of Dragons’ Den on Bloomberg HT in Turkey, l focus on the angel investment opportunities brought by entrepreneurs to den-studio. As you may know rougly 25% of angel investment money is going to IT & mobile industry, then bio-techs in the world. So this statistics is also valid for me. My first focus is on mobile technologies.

eKapija: Are there enough good projects for angel and venture capital investment in Turkey? And what would you recommend for those numbers to be even bigger?

- EBAN statistics show that just 1 % of entrepreneurs are able to reach angel investment money. Most of them are eliminated in the pre-screening process. Angel investment system is quite new to Turkish economy. So, gap between the number of angel investors and entrepreneurs will be filled by time. Main challenge of entrepreneurship eco-system in Turkey is the entrepreneurs’ lack of English which stands as a real barrier in the game.

(Photo: baybarsaltuntas.net)

eKapija: How to foster young people to be more entrepreneurial? What would you recommend to them and what to policy/decision makers?

- First of all, young people should learn how to pitch to international investor. I’d like to give a few basic clues for entrepreneurs which I believe these clues will ease the way for reaching finance.

1. Prepare yourself, not just your idea. Angel investors invest first in the entrepreneur not in the business plan. It’s important that the investor and entrepreneur can get along. They will want to see that you are fast, thoughtful and efficient, and can sustain the project through its conception and growth.

2. Capture the essentials. Angels care more about the presentation than the business plan. Can you, in less than five minutes, explain the project, the return on investment and the growth strategy?

3. Have a plan from day one. Angels are very interested in your exit strategy. Many investors tire after about seven years with a company and look around for new opportunities. So what is your exit strategy? Are you going to sell all your shares to a new entrepreneur? Go public with the company? Sell to venture capitalists? Franchise?

4. Do your investor research. You should find out as much as you can about your angel investor. Who has he or she invested in before? Have they been successful? How well do they know your industry? How much time can they devote to you and your idea?

5. Take care of due diligence upfront. It takes most investors 3 months to do due diligence on your idea. Make sure that it is not a waste of their time.

6. Negotiate a term sheet offer. Lack of experience can make this a very painful part of the whole project. You can go to the websites of the Angel Capital Association (ACA) or European Business Angels Network (EBAN) to learn more on this step.

(Photo: baybarsaltuntas.net)

7. Learn the vocabulary—it’s all there on the Internet.

eKapija: What is it that every rookie should prepare to win the attention of investors at Balkan Venture and similar forums in order to get capital?

- I suggest preparing four different presentations for the potential investor:

• Business plan of no more then 50 pages

• Business plan condensed into PowerPoint presentation of no more than 20 slides

• This Powerpoint should be condensed down to a 2-page brief

• A 5 minute elevator pitch

For policy-makers, my advice is to co-operate with successful entrepreneurs to create a better ecosystem for start-ups. Particularly for entrepreneurs who need seed funding, developing a legal status in the country should be one of the main objectives of policy makers. Structuring co-investment funds with angel investors and VC to finance start-ups should also be within the agenda of policy makers.

Jelena Djelic