According to Invest.gov.tr's 2024 “The State of Turkish Startup Ecosystem” report:
Only 3% of seed-funded startups in Türkiye can advance to the Series A stage. The European average, on the other hand, is above 15%.
The recently published Startups.watch Türkiye Startup Ecosystem 2025 Q2 report also draws attention to the same problem.
So, what are the causes of this bottleneck?
Here are the 21 critical reasons that stand out based on my experience and observations:
1. Founders' inexperience in company management
2. Excessive hiring, insufficient layoffs → a bloated structure
3. Inability to retain talented employees
4. The founding CEO's lack of focus
5. Mental fatigue and “blind spots”
6. Economic instability and a lack of exchange-rate and inflation management
7. Customer loyalty problems
8. Failure to establish the right sales channel and business partnerships
9. Neglect of Human Resources management
10. Inefficient use of seed / early-stage investment
11. Failure to manage cash flow
12. Collection problems and a lengthening collection process
13. Failure to create or track the P&L statement
14. Disconnect between the entrepreneur and their investor
15. Failure to adequately research and use grants and incentives
16. Weak relationships with banks
17. Banks approaching startups as if they were “tradespeople”
18. Eximbank, Türk Ticaret Bankası and similar institutions not knowing the “startup language”
19. Low product-development speed and falling behind in competition
20. Delay in expanding into foreign markets
21. Inability to find experienced R&D staff
Each item requires a separate solution. Which do you think are the most critical? What else could be added?
In the coming days, I will share my proposed solutions.
Türkiye's way out runs through technology development and exports!
