Who Is

Dr. Özgür Zan

Serial Entrepreneur · Author · Mentor · Independent Operating Partner

Twenty-five years founding companies. Six startups across four countries. Products used by more than 100 million people. Some succeeded; others failed for reasons I now understand far better than I did at the time.

I have always written and taught alongside the building. Three books across two languages. Years mentoring early-stage founders. The 7P Framework is the system I wish someone had handed me in 1999.

Today I also work as an Independent Operating Partner — sitting between investor organisations and the founders they back, in the gap between monthly boards and stretched senior partners.

Read The Founder’s Sequence For founders For investors

My journey

Twenty-five years, six startups, four countries, one exit.

25+: years building
6: startups founded
1: notable exit
4: countries founded in
100M+: people reached
30+: customer countries
20 + 11: investors & co-founders
3: books, two languages

Graduated in Computer Engineering from Boğaziçi University in 1999 and shipped the first venture the same year. The bet was that phones would move from ear to eye. The next twenty-five years went into proving and living that bet — six startups across Turkey, the UK, Germany, and the UAE, an MBA and a PhD at Yeditepe along the way.

One notable exit. Some failures I now understand far better than I did at the time. Throughout, I have always written and taught alongside the building — three books, hundreds of mentees, years in lecture halls.

My services

What I can do for you.

Founders

Building, raising, or in a hard stretch. One-on-one engagements with first-time founders, founders raising, and founders in hard times. By application.

See if it fits

Investors

An experienced operator alongside your portfolio companies — closer than the board, between monthly meetings. For VCs, accelerators, and angel networks.

How I work with investors

Readers

Three books across two languages — including a free e-book that introduces the 7P Framework. The system I wish someone had handed me in 1999.

Browse the books

Philosophy

My Entrepreneurial Philosophy

I have distilled my entrepreneurial philosophy into seven imperatives. They are simple, but not easy. Here they are:

01
Focus
Concentrate on one thing. The founder who chases everything catches nothing.
02
Obsess
Obsess to innovate and add value — not to stay in your comfort zone.
03
Learn and Model
Read, observe, and model people who have already succeeded at what you are trying to do.
04
Start Small and Progress
Begin before perfection. Progress creates clarity.
05
Take Massive Action
The difference between knowing and doing is the willingness to move at scale.
06
Simplify
Do not make things complex when they do not need to be.
07
Persist Until You Succeed
Keep going until evidence tells you to pivot — not until fear tells you to stop.

What I do

Five activities, one identity.

Each of these grew out of the others. None of them sit on top of the building — they are part of how I build.

I build.: Building is the throughline. Six startups across twenty-five years, and currently the 7pframework.com platform alongside a new B2B startup.
I mentor.: Direct founder engagements by application, and Independent Operating Partner work with investor organizations — early-stage VCs, angel networks, accelerators, and incubation programs.
I write.: Three books across two languages — Cesaret Ekonomisi (2021), Indispensable Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship (2023), and The Founder’s Sequence (2026).
I teach.: Speaking at universities, accelerators, and founder events.
I inspire.: By being honest about what entrepreneurship actually demands — failures, pivots, hard-won lessons included. The story is more useful than the slogan.

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