Baybars Altuntas is a global entrepreneur, best-selling author, angel investor, columnist, star of the Turkish version of the television show Dragons’ Den, President of the Business Angels Association of Turkey (TBAA), President of Deulcom International, Vice President of the European Trade Association for Business Angels, Seed Funds, and other Early Stage Market Players (EBAN), and the World Entrepreneurship Forum’s Ambassador to Turkey and the South East Europe. He has been recognised by the European Trade Association of Business Angels (EBAN) and received the Best Individual in Europe Globally Engaging with the World Entrepreneurial Ecosystem award in both 2014 and 2015. He was the only entrepreneurship guru to be granted a special audience by US President Barack Obama at the White House during the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in 2010.As a popular global speaker on entrepreneurship, innovation and angel investment, Mr Altuntas was invited by US President Obama to speak at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Kenya in 2015. In the same year he was recognised as Junior Chamber International (JCI) Ambassador, following Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations. The JCI is a non-profit international non-governmental organization with chapters in 182 countries and now has more than 200.ooo members worldwide. It has consultative status with the Council of Europe, with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and with UNESCO. He currently serves on the international advisory board of the South-East Europe Research Center in Greece. Holding an MBA, he is known as the creator of ‘Startup Compass: Starting from scratch by converting idle capacity to cash’. He has also developed a roadmap for entrepreneurs who want to start from scratch. An avid follower of quiz shows for years, Altuntas currently enjoys hosting the Turkish version of the highly successful BBC quiz show, The Weakest Link.Mr Altuntas is married and is the proud father of two daughters. Visit Wikipedia for more information
He is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and leader of many global social responsibility projects.
He was recognized by The European Trade Association of Business Angels as the 2013’s Best Individual in Europe Globally Engaging with Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.
He was the only entrepreneurial guru to be granted a personal audience with President Obama at the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in Washington, DC, which was hailed by the White House as the most important entrepreneurial event of the 21st century. In his meeting with President Obama he shared his ideas on how to convert public money to smart money globally and to ease entrepreneurs’ access to finance.
He is now a global leader in entrepreneurship and shows the way for new generations to become successful with his unique system known as “The map to success: Your rise to entrepreneurship™”.
His books have been translated into several languages and have become bestsellers in each of them. Altuntas has addressed over 100 thousand entrepreneurs of all ages worldwide, each of them attending his conferences seeking the knowledge required to succeed in life. When Altuntas was still a university student, he was recognized as one of the 40 most innovative businessmen of Turkey. His life story was made into a film by TRT, the official broadcasting service of Turkey. Altuntas is the pioneer of the franchising system in Turkey and the Balkan countries.
He is also known as the father of franchising in Turkey. He is the founder of the Turkish Franchising Association, which represents Turkey at the World Franchise Council.
His best-selling book Off the Bus, Into a BMW set a record for 24 reprints within the first 6 months of publication and even outsold Steve Jobs’ book. Altuntas has inspired thousands of people with his words of encouragement: “I did it my way, and you can too!” He is a respected visionary who provides consulting to CEOs and Forbes 1000 businessmen in addition to writing books and making speeches. He is a global expert in wannapreneurship, entrepreneurship, innovation, marketing & sales, branding, institutionalization, franchising, leadership and angel investment.
Altuntas is one of the 100 Dragons who have appeared on the world-famous angel investment and entrepreneurship TV show, Dragons’ Den. The programme is well-known in the USA as Shark Tank.
As an angel investor he has invested in numerous start-up companies. He is the president of the Business Angels Association of Turkey (TBAA), and Vice President of the European Trade Association for Business Angels, Seed Funds, and other Early Stage Market Players (EBAN) which represents 75 thousand business angels in Europe.
He also leads the biggest business angel network in Turkey: Links Angel BAN.
His The map to success: Your rise to entrepreneurship™ system guarantees success in everyday life for people of all ages. In his conferences, workshops and seminars he describes nine different paths. When you connect all nine, you begin to see the true story that brought Altuntas his own success. These nine paths comprise the basic principles of entrepreneurship that he describes in his books and conferences. Over 100 thousand people from around the world have found new inspiration from his conferences.
The technique of converting idle capacity into cash has been examined by academicians and referred to in international management journals as the Altuntas Principle. This highlights the fact that there is no need for finance if you are a great entrepreneur. This concept has inspired many entrepreneurs who had been unable access to finance, but who had a great idea and the ability to develop the correct business model and implement it.
He is profiled regularly by leading international media such as CNN International, Bloomberg, and NTV. He is a co-author of Planet Entrepreneur: The World Entrepreneurship Forum’s Guide to Business Success Around the World, published by Wiley (November 2013).
He is the Ambassador of the World Entrepreneurship Forum to the Balkans and Turkey. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Bosphorus University in Turkey. He is married and has two daughters.
As of
1st of August 2014
He is
now
Advisory Board Member, South East Europe Research Center, Greece
Ambassador of World Entrepreneurship Forum to Turkey & Balkans, France
world-entrepreneurship-forum.org
Vice President of EBAN – European Business Angels Network, Belgium
Board Member of WBAA – World Business Angels Association, UK
Chair of EBAN Institute, Belgium
Coordinator of European Business Angels Week, Belgium
President of TBAA – Business Angels Association, Turkey
President of Links Angel BAN, Turkey
Dragon of Dragons’ Den, Turkey
Host of the Weakest Link of BBC, Turkey
Founder & Chair of Executive Committee of Deulcom International, Turkey
Columnist of Migrant Woman Monthly Magazine, UK
Columnist of Para – Money Weekly Magazine, Turkey
Co-Author of ‘Planet Entrepreneur’ by Wileys, US
The Road Map to Success: Your Rise to Entrepreneurship & Angel Investment
In a presentation entitled The Map to Success: Your Rise to Entrepreneurship & Angel Investment, Altuntaş describes the steps of an entrepreneurial journey. He likens the journey to the four seasons of the year. This “map”, which he refers to as the rising map to successful entrepreneurship, was developed for world-class entrepreneurs but is also used in workshops and in university training programs.
The first “season” is the level of wannapreneurship. The second is the start-up stage of a business. This stage has three important sub-steps: innovation, entrepreneurship, and marketing and sales. The third season is growth, which includes branding, institutionalization, and franchising. The last and fourth season is maturity: leadership and angel investment. The steps are described below.
7.1. Before Starting a Business
- Step 1 Wannapreneurship
Wannapreneurship starts the moment that you generate a business idea. But how will you proceed from the wannapreneurship stage to the next level? Are you a wannapreneur? Inventor? Entrepreneur? Why was Edison, one of the world’s most important inventors, unable to be successful as an entrepreneur in his businesses?
7.2. Starting Up the Business
- Step 2 Innovation
Develop a product or a service or a unique marketing strategy that your competitors have not yet conceived of. If you innovate, you can freely spend for marketing. If, on the other hand, you are simply replicating what other entrepreneurs are doing, you run a serious risk: You are spending your money to promote a product with no innovative feature, yet with the same price as a similar product that is already branded. The consumer will remember the branded product and purchase that one. Only if you have an innovative product or an existing product to which you have assigned an innovative feature will the consumer be inclined to try it.
- Step 3 Entrepreneurship
Implement what you have dreamed and planned for. The world always welcomes a new entrepreneur. The moment you receive the tax identification number for your business is the beginning of your entrepreneurship story. This is the time to concentrate on becoming a successful entrepreneur.
- Step 4 Marketing and Sales
How will you succeed in becoming a leader in business with maximum sales on a minimal budget? This is a big challenge for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are careful about spending for marketing. The ones who are successful are those who are personally involved in their own marketing planning and activities.
7.3. Growing the Business
- Step 5 Branding
Good marketing helps you accomplish two things: creating a need and establishing your brand. Use your emblem, logo or slogan on your advertisements and other marketing tools. Over time, your logo can become highly recognized in your market and eventually become a reason for customers to choose your product over others. The more often consumers see your brand name in their daily lives (in newspapers, magazines, billboards, the internet), the stronger it becomes.
- Step 6 Institutionalization
Your business grows and you have several branches. This growth comes with more than a few headaches. New staff, new branch offices, more reporting, more work on daily operations, more customers. All these bring new challenges that demand effective solutions.
- Step 7 Franchising
Independent entrepreneurs start requesting your brand for their own use. This is where the franchising process starts. Bear in mind that other entrepreneurs may assume you have already completed your institutionalization process. They simply see your advertisements regularly, probably consume your services and products and enjoy them, see that you have many customers and therefore want to purchase your franchise. But all this does not necessarily mean you are ready to franchise your business. The essential criterion is the completion of the institutionalization process—and that have a manual for daily operations.
7.4. Maturing the Business
- Step 8 Leadership
You can carry on as the CEO of your company, or you can hire a professional CEO, which will free you to become the leader of your business.
- Step 9 Angel Investment
To support new start-up entrepreneurs, share your know-how. An angel investor is an experienced entrepreneur who has learned the ropes and is now ready to provide financial support, know-how, and networking for new entrepreneurs by becoming shareholders in their company.
Baybars Altuntas Notes 