METU rector: We want to see Turkey produce its own technology

Noting that it’s important that universities not only educate and conduct research, but also implement new information and knowledge, Professor Acar said that when the annual EBAN (European Business Angel Network) congress takes place in İstanbul this year, it will be an important step towards sharing experience on an international level for Turkey.

EBAN’s annual congress is slated to take place in İstanbul on April 15-16. Three countries were originally vying for the EBAN conference, but in the end, İstanbul used its status as a European Capital of Culture to give it an advantage for 2010.

The still-new concept of “Business Angels” could be interpreted differently in Turkey, Professor Acar said. “We call this an organization of technology entrepreneurs. In the end, what we wish to see happen here is for Turkey to produce its own technology, to contribute to Turkey being able to compete not only in terms of raw materials and labor force, but also through its own technological products. By bringing together more than 500 entrepreneurs and investors, we wish to break the chains holding back our young entrepreneurs with potential. Actually, the rest of the world did these things long ago, with other nations supporting their young entrepreneurs and bringing about some huge international success stories. And so we really want to see an increase in the success enjoyed by our young entrepreneurs.”

Acar, who noted that the EBAN congress would help further their goals in important ways, said that the formation of METUTECH-BAN would ultimately allow Turkish entrepreneurs to reach their goals and come up with regulations for their own national organization.

Professor Acar said the number of companies active in METUTECH-BAN was currently at 420 and that there were two important processes necessary for young entrepreneurs to set up their own workshops at Teknokent. First, these young entrepreneurs are required to take part in a contest in which they come up with new ideas, and then they must go through a stage of turning their ideas into reality. This stage is called “kuluçka” in Turkish, or incubation. If they pass through these stages, they are allowed free workspaces in Teknokent. It is then at this point in the process that METUTECH-BAN comes on the scene, helping present the new enterprise’s products on both a national and international market level.

Bringing together entrepreneurs and investors

Acar talked about METUTECH-BAN ‘s general goal of helping to support and provide stability to young entrepreneurs who are just beginning to get on their feet. “METUTECH-BAN is actually a mechanism that will stand behind and even push forward a firm whose risk levels have basically dropped a bit, and which has really settled into a clear trajectory; this mechanism will then support this firm until it reaches the point of attracting investors. Here is how the system works: We call on investors, we say, ‘Here is this company, these are the risks, here are the firm’s competitive qualities, and this is how much is needed for some start-up investment in this company.’ And then the investment is turned over either in the form of capital or in the form of credit, and if both sides are interested, of course, the partnership is formed.”

Many young entrepreneurs who, lacking the existence of an organization such as METUTECH-BAN in Turkey, have stumbled and lost their footing just as they could have instead been rising and making strides forward, the professor said. He asserted that these were great losses and unrealized potential for the nation and that his aim was to see these sorts of failed attempts reduced to as few as possible. Acar went on to explain: “There are those who, despite being just about to make a great entrance into the market, are not able to break into it, as there is no one there to hold their hand. There are just so many companies which remain on less than a national level because either they were not well directed or they didn’t know proper marketing techniques or they weren’t able to obtain the necessary credit for their final move, and are thus never able to achieve any sort of international competitiveness. This is because, of course, not everyone can always know everything. A person who views life through a very technologically related perspective, for example, might completely overlook some social aspect. Of course, technology in its own right is important, but if that technology really meets a need, then people pay you money and actually wind up buying that technology.”

Of equal importance to the contributions in terms of capital made by the “business angels” to young entrepreneurs is support in the form of career experience and background that they share. The professor says that for many years, vast amounts of experience were just not being taken advantage of in Turkey by young and inexperienced entrepreneurs. Within this framework, Acar notes that 99.9 percent of successful company directors involved and active in METUTECH-BAN are not in it for the profit, but instead they seek to support younger entrepreneurs at risk of failure or of making serious mistakes on the way to success, by helping with fixable problems.

Currently, METUTECH-BAN has some very important and significant institutional members, the professor says, from the general manager of Türk Telekom, Paul Doany, to the head of Turkish İş Bank, Ersin Özince.

Acar notes that part of the plan to make up for lost time with METUTECH-BAN -- the organization started up in 2008 -- is to target large meetings such as the upcoming EBAN congress in Turkey. “Europe already knows of the lively amounts of potential that exist in Turkey,” he says. Within this context, Acar notes that while Turkey is only at the start of its exploration of business angels-type organizations, both America and Europe have already made great strides in this area. He described his goals further: “We are just at the start of creating the Turkish leg of an organization which has already become widespread and well used in other parts of the world. We have no time to lose, which is why we have put great thought into the most effective way to make public the need there is to form a Turkish version of these kinds of business angels or technological investors groups. We decided that one of the best ways to do this would be to focus on a meeting, a congress that would attract much attention. And, of course, it is very important that we create these sorts of “incubation support” centers for young entrepreneurs not only on the ODTÜ campus, but also throughout Turkey at various “technokents.” In many nations around the world, retired businesspeople and experts in their fields offer free consulting within the framework of these sorts of organizations. They teach at management schools with the titles of ‘executive in residence.’ But unfortunately, in our country, these sorts of invaluable experiences remain untapped and don’t reach young entrepreneurs who might make use of them. We have so many Turkish people that fit the profile of having great experience in their fields, and so now, they really need to be able to relay their experience to others.”

International language of investors

Talking about the target of getting Turkish entrepreneurs and investors to look more through the perspective of international investing, Professor Acar said: “This topic calls for some learning because there is a specific language for international investors. There are certain characteristics they look for and certain perspectives they have. We want for our young entrepreneurs to see and perceive both this language and this viewpoint because, of course, there may be differences between our local playing fields and the international ones.”

Acar notes that in America in particular, there are young entrepreneurs receiving support in the form of business angel investors, and that these young entrepreneurs then often go on to become world giants in their sectors. He notes that the world-famous Microsoft firm is just one of these. Acar says that, in fact, it is the software sector which benefits the most from these sorts of investment projects and efforts and that part of the reason there is so much support for software entrepreneurs is that their work can pull in very rapid profits.

Touching on the criteria for success according to organizations such as Metutech-BAN, ODTÜ Rector Acar sums them up this way: “It is an important question, the question of how we measure our success. On the one hand, there are the success stories that emerge in their own right, with people using their own skills and possibilities. And then there are the success stories that show just how widespread the business angel infrastructure is throughout Turkey. ... We are currently engaged in talks with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Treasury in regard to business angels, and this is, of course, a sign of the development of that organization.”

Widely attended EBAN congress

The two-day EBAN Congress 2010 to be held in mid-April in Turkey is to be an important occasion for the relaying of know-how between parties, asserted Professor Ahmet Acar. He said there will be more than 500 investors attending this conference, with a full 400 of them being foreign. Some stands will be allotted free of charge to young entrepreneurs for the upcoming occasion, which would give them a valuable chance to talk about their projects, the professor said.

Acar added that there would be significant participation from Turkey at the upcoming EBAN congress. “We will have investment institutions working in the sector there, we will have umbrella organizations for entrepreneurial endeavors such as technoparks, there will be politicians, and, of course, top-level bureaucrats. There will also be entrepreneurs who have received support from business angels in the past, as well as well-known financial organizations.”

Rediscovering everything from scratch was not part of the aim of an organization such as Metutech-BAN, Professor Acar said. “There will be people who have better questions than ours, of course, who will come to this congress. There will be EU authorities in attendance. There will be a panel at which there are discussions on how this sort of organization is run in Europe. We want to see Europe turn a bit to look at Turkey, to really see the potential in İstanbul and Turkey; and of course, we also want to see a transfer of information and know-how.”

Turkish entrepreneurs

Noting that the entrepreneurial spirit of Turkish people in general was a characteristic noted worldwide, Professor Ahmet Acar said: “Actually, scientific research has been telling us this since 1965. Our entrepreneurial spirit attracts much attention, but there are a host of barriers that prevent us from really placing this spirit front and center.”

Stressing the importance of production based on science, Professor Acar said that universities shoulder an important role in this area. “While science which has not been implemented has only a limited chance of success, industry that does not base itself on science and information technology has absolutely no chance at all.” He noted, therefore, that it was both the private and the public sectors which were obliged to base their production efforts on information technology and science.

Professor Acar noted that the scientific world now acknowledges the above reality, and thus supports it, and that as such, the idea of R&D or research and development needs to be transformed into “research and technological development.” Recalling that until recently Turkey did not have an industry based on technological transfer, the professor said: “We have now seen that that is a dead end street, which is why we no longer just talk about ‘research and development,’ but instead about ‘research and technological development.’ I think the critical aspect to all this is really technological development.”