Emre Sokullu _beta

Y! is cool! Jerry Yang bleeds purple.

It’s been months since I haven’t been writing to this blog. What made me change that is the departure of Jerry Yang and the new cool things I see at Yahoo.

First of all I’m sad for Jerry Yang leaving. I think he did a really good job opening Yahoo up to developers. Yahoo has literally become more innovative than Google lately. Yahoo Open Strategy YOS! is great! It’s not only good for the worldwide developer community but it’s good for Yahoo itself too. I know they’ve been wanting this for years and congratulations for that great final product. It connects everything Yahoo and should ignite innovation everywhere on the web in the next couple of years.

Yahoo BOSS is wonderful too; none of its competitors have allowed so much innovation to flow through. That will definitely bring value to Yahoo, because they will be directly reflected to more and more new ideas.

Also note that Yahoo made some really great acquisitions during Yang’s tenure. Particularly inquisitor is great. It was such a small one, but it has already succeeded to change my default search engine. I’m sure that this acquisition has already paid off itself. Although Zimbra and especially Maven Networks were too expensive and when you look at them now. Zimbra is still relevant with Yahoo’s core product Yahoo Mail but Maven? It was probably a part of Yahoo’s expansion strategy but they seem to be too much distractions from Y’s original mission now - but no one could predict the current market situation at that time.

How about mistakes? Well, I was one of those who thought Y! should sell to MSFT. Not with full my heart though. It would make sense from investors’ point of view; but frankly, globally not! Yahoo has a great potential and the duopoly would not bring any good to anyone in this industry. It’s Yang who prevented that. He fought against timid souls who don’t believe in the power of Yahoo.

Was it a mistake not being able to sign a deal with Google or AOL?.. There was so much pressure on him that I’m sure both of Google and AOL tried to take advantage of it with a bad deal for Yahoo; but again Yang did the hard thing and succeeded to say no, at least under his direction.

As for the leaves and layoffs. To be frank I don’t know each and every of them so I can’t make a proper judgement about that. But my friends at Yahoo were concerned about the startup pace they’ve started feeling at the company. So what’s the problem with that? Yang made the company more competitive; as a result he got things done; projects like social search were not being finished for years, but he did it, finally got del.icio.us republished. And the biggest problem at Y! was argued to be the “too much middleman” and he cut it by filling up the company with more soldiers instead of “executives” Literally Yang gave the company to the hands of passionate yahoos, not tired ones.

And today people are blindly complaining about the leaves at Yahoo and the current situation of stocks. Well, the market conditions are obvious, everyone has lost so much value; not just Yahoo. They’re now almost the same price with eBay; it has always been so. Relatively there’s nothing lost. Even if it was Semel, the stocks would be affected by global conditions.

I really believe that Yang bleeds purple. He stood up and did everything well. And looking at the current though markt conditions, he just chose to give his seat to others. He put his ego apart and managed to make MSFT rethink its offer for the goods of the company. I think Yang has been a really good founder and CEO for Y! Hopefully he’ll get more things done with the new CEO.

            

Pardus Universitesi

Benim aklim hala Pardus’ta; hala proje uzerinde, zaman zaman da olsa, kafa yormaya devam ediyorum. Az once rasgele Pardus’tan Caglar Onur’un da ayrildigini okudum. Yavas yavas Pardus’un cekirdek ekibi yok oluyor. Bunun boyle olacagini bastan kestirmistim; Pardus bir anlamda kisilere yatirim yapiyor; bu kisilerin projeyle kalmayacagi kesin. Turkiye’deki sartlar belli; siz bu kadar talep edilen becerileri bu kisilere doldurup, onlarin Turkiye’deki kulturel, ekonomik, sosyal sartlarda calismasini beklerseniz bu yurumez.

Ama sanirim projenin beklentisi de bu degil. Ayrilanlarin da Pardus’tan koptugunu sanmiyorum; oralarda bir ihtiyac oldugu takdirde geri doneceklerdir.

Ancak bu durumda Pardus’un bir universite gibi isledigini de gozden kacirmayalim. Keske daha fazla ekonomik hirslari olsaydi; daha verimli ve herkes (calisanlar, tuketiciler, takipciler) icin daha tatmin edici olurdu.

Herneyse… Bence Pardus projesindeki gercek deger; eleman yeniden donusumunde gorulecek. Kaybedilenlerin yeri ne kadar hizli doldurulabilirse, bu, Turkiye acik kaynak ekosistemine Pardus’un o derece fayda sagladigi anlamina geliyor. Ki isin mutlu edici tarafi, su ana kadar isler yolunda gidiyor gibi gorunuyor. Gectigimiz gun python.org anasayfasinda PiSi makalesini gorunce, her ne kadar taraftari olmasam da, sevindim.

            

GROU.PS, 1.1 Milyon Dolar ve Digerleri

Bloglamayali uzun zaman oldu. Sebebi malum; GROU.PS onemli bir yatirim kaldirdi ve su anda projeye iyice yogunlasmis vaziyetteyim. Ancak Turkiye’deki blogkurenin aldigimiz bu yatirima verdigi cevap dikkatimi cekti; herkese teker teker yanit vermek yerine, kendi blogumdan toplu bir cevap vermeyi uygun gordum.

100 milyon ve 50 milyon dolarlik rakiplere karsi sansiniz ne olabilir ki? Bosa emek harciyorsunuz! Daha fazla kaldirmaliydiniz!
Komik… Daha dun bu ulkedeki startup’larin agir bir deyimle agzinin acliktan koktugunu biliyoruz. Bu yatirimi yetersiz bulmak bana gulunc geliyor. Bence bir anlamda fazla bile kaldirdik (yatirimin yarisinin vergilere gidecegini saymazsak!!). Sanki ulkede VC ekosistemi olusmasiyla beraber fazla havalandik gibi geliyor. Az parayla cok is yapabiliriz. Genc ve cok azimli bir ekibimiz var. Turkiye’nin buyuk basarilara ihtiyaci var. Bu parayi akilli harcarsak yapamayacagimiz sey yok. Bu para tabi ki bizi IPO’ya goturmeyecek, ama Series B’ye kadar basari ile gitmek zaten amacimiz.

Bu kadar para kaldirdiniz sitede aptal aptal bug’lar var!
Bu da oncekiyle tezat ama olsun… Evet bug’larimiz var, ama yatirim yeni elimize geciyor. Ancak yeni yeni bu bug’lara istedigimiz ciddiyette egilebiliyoruz. Bundan onceki Grou.ps bir anlamda prototipti. Asil challenge simdi onumuzde!

Tebrikler Emre
Tesekkurler! Ama aslina bakarsak gercekten tebrik etmelik bir durum yok; ben de eskiden para raise edenleri tebrik etmek isterdim. Ama isin asli, ustumuze yeni cok cok cok cok cok cok cok cok ….. cok buyuk sorumluluklar geldi. Alnimizin akiyla cikmak icin calisiyoruz.

Ben sizin alternatifiniz X’i kullanacagim!
Enteresan… Evet Grou.ps’ta su anda bildigimiz problemler var ama abartilacak cinsten degil. Hele rakiplerimizle karsilastirildi mi, hic degil. Burada gercek anlamda bir social operating system’dan bahsediyoruz; full flexibility. Bu sistemi yaratmak kolay degil. Herkes bunun uzerinde calisiyor; henuz bunlar bebek adimlari. Biz burdan ilk basariyla cikan olacagiz. Onlara gore olan ustunluklerimiz hic tartisilmiyor (bakiniz asagidaki soru)
Bizim beklentimiz bu asamada global olarak adini duyurmus bu Turk projesine en azindan Turkiye’de biraz destek verilmesi. Birakin global girisimleri, ATechcrunch falan degil adini henuz kendi ulkesinde dogru durust duyurmamis, “Turkiye zaten ne uretsek yiyor, bi acenta acariz pastayi kapariz” mantigiyla yaklasan firmalara bu noktada prim verenlere sasiriyorum. Onlarin emegine de saygimiz var kesinlikle. ama…. Yillardir bekledigimiz bir firsat ayagimiza gelmis, neden boyle davraniyoruz? Yoksa istedigimiz bu degil miydi? Yoksa cehennemde herkes birbirinin ayagindan cektiginden suskun kalan tek kazan Turk kazani fikrasi dogru mu? Hatalarimiz varsa affola, ama bu alandaki her girisimin var. Ben bu “vatan hainlerini” (biliyorum abarttim!) Amerika ve Turkiye’de varolan tutkulu kullanici tabanimiza dahil olmaya davet ediyorum.

Sahi, GROU.PS’u digerlerinden ustun kilan seyler nedir?
Biz bu alana ilk gireniz ve bu alanda bir cok innovation’a imza attik. Grup kurucusuna en buyuk ozgurlukleri biz veriyoruz. Reklam gelirlerine dokunmuyoruz, hersey bedava. Ustelik branding yok; grup tamamiyle sizin. Ustelik dis servislerle de sadece biz entegreyiz. Sundugumuz ozellikler digerlerinden fazla. Evet su an itibariyle biraz buggy’yiz; evet bazi kacirdigimiz crucial ozellikler var. Ama bizi izleyin. Bu kadar sey yapan bi ekibin bu hatalari bu kaynakla geciremeyecigini dusunmuyorsunuz herhalde. Hatalar gidecek; innovation hickimsede olmadigi, olamayacagi hizda devam edecek. Turkiye’nin en parlak ekibiyle calisiyoruz ve bize katilmak isteyen onlarca parlak ve tutkulu insan var! Grup kurma yatirimi yapiyorsaniz akilli davranmanizi oneririm; sadece milliyetci sebepler degil; Grou.ps’a yapilacak yatirim size en buyuk getiriyi getirecektir. Bugun istediklerinizi 100% oraninda alamayabilirsiniz, bunu saglayabilen kimse yok su asamada, ama yarin Grou.ps’un en iyi servis olacaginin sozunu ben veriyorum.

Hedef?
Cok milliyetci kacabilir ama bilenler bilir; benim Turkix’den beri amacim, icinde bulundugum ekiplerde, RWW’de olsun, hakia’da olsun hep ayni sey… Turkiye’nin adini teknoloji alaninda global arenada saygi duyulur bir yere getirmede pay sahibi olmak. Turkiye’yi teknoloji alaninda bir Israil yapmak. Amacimiz bir IPO ya da ses getiren bir satin alimla bu noktada hem finansal ozgurluge (yatirim ekosistemi) erismek hem de ulusal ozguveni asilamak.

…..

Hayir alkollu falan degilim. Alkol ya da hicbir beyin uyusturucu kullanmam zaten. Soylediklerim fazla duygusal duyuluyor olabilir; ama oyle evet.. Bizi bugune kadar ayakta tutan bu duygusal tutku oldu. Bundan sonra da azimle devam edip alnimizin akiyla cikmak amacimiz.

            

Looking for Android Hackers in Istanbul

LeapTag is looking for Android hackers - the position is Istanbul based. Basic knowledge of Linux is of course required.

            

GROU.PS doubling continues…

See my previous posts on the size of user-generated data on GROU.PS servers. And now it doubles again. Our database size, alone, is nearing 5 GB now. This means UGC doubles every 5 months or so at GROU.PS… Estimated total amount of user generated content size on Grou.ps is > 50GB now. I guess that will increase tremendously after we add Files and Videos modules this month.

            

Yahoo Turkiye Is Imkani

UPDATE: arkadaslar cok geek CV’ler geliyomus, teknik gucunuzu gostermek yerine, sosyal gucunuzu gostermeye bakin derim. Community fostering deneyimlerinizden bahsedin; bir open source projeniz varsa, teknik bilgiyi vermeyin, etrafinda topladiginiz insanlardan bahsedin - technical skills is a plus but not a priority.

Yahoo! Inc is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! provides online and mobile products and services essential to users’ lives. As one of the most established and trusted brands, Yahoo! offers a full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

The Emerging Markets Group’s primary role is to lead Yahoo!’s expansion into new markets across the globe, and the Group has identified East Europe as among its priority regions. The East European team’s mission is to engage local audiences through compelling product experiences, and to pursue value-generating partnerships in key countries across the region.

As part of these expansion efforts, Yahoo! is seeking a seasoned Community Manager to launch and manage the growth of cross-product in Turkey.

Key Responsibilities:
The CM will work closely with East European development and marketing team. His/her initial focus will be initiating community interaction which is facilitated through the use of blogs, ratings and reviews, forums, and other tools. The concept of convening people in a virtual space includes a range of online activities such as collaboration, virtual networks, Web-based discussions, sharing media etc. as an online community is a group of people sharing common interests, ideas, and feelings over the Internet.

Your responsibilities as Community Manager will include:
· Foster community growth and engagement
· Raise the quality of user-generated content
· Monitor the pulse of the community and work closely with the product marketing team

The community management role is an essential function of any service that offers community features. The primary role of the Community Manager is to foster community growth and engagement including:

· Interacting directly with members including blogging about new features and tips, commenting on user blogs and other contributions etc.
· Modeling and articulating desirable community behaviors
· Identifying the most active users and encouraging them
· Identifying new users, welcoming them, and encouraging activity
· Gathering and reporting on community sentiment/metrics
· Representing the voice of the user and reporting community insights to the broader team
· Communicating the voice of Yahoo! to the community.
· Communication with Y! customer care

Additional tasks:
· Work with marketing and product team to launch Y! products in local market
· Surface interesting content/featured members to drive interest and engagement
· Send emails to individual users to increase engagement and positive participation on the product
· Close the loop when Y! makes changes or decides not to make changes requested by users
· Develop and manage recognition programs for your most valuable members Resolve disputes, constrain/remove problem members
· Communicate with customer care
· Create online or offline events to drive interest and engagement
· Establish possible online or offline media to improve the quality of the community
· Online editorial tasks

The post is based in Istanbul.

Requirements:
You are an active and vocal participant in the world of blog, forum, spurring conversations, creating company/products value by world-of-mouth. A passion of social net works, communities and about connecting people is essential.

An ideal candidate should have:
· 3+ years of experience in online community development
· Exemplary communication skills in online environments, on blogs, and as a moderator or facilitator of online forums
· Proven track record in translating customer feedback into product and customer communication and improvements
· Exemplary written communication skills, particularly in relation to online communities, blogs, and as a moderator or facilitator of online forums
· Ability to successfully interact and build relationships with key customer audiences
· An evangelist, someone to listen to clients and get problems fixed quickly
· Ability to translate technical explanations into layman’s terms. An understanding of web development and web functionality, to be able to explain processes to user
· Ability to work across a cross-functional team that includes product management, marketing, engineering, editorial, and public relations
· A native Turkish speaker with fluent written and oral English

If you have passion for the web and love fast evolving work places, send your CV to recruitment-east-europe@yahoo-inc.com

            

Acting Against Internet Censorship in Turkey

We are fighting to stop internet censorship in Turkey; banned web sites include YouTube, NetLog, Wordpress, YouPorn. In other words, it’s very hard to make user-generated content business in Turkey. Looks like we need to teach our politicians a little bit about web 2.0 - well that’s not gonna be easy but our first step was discussed in this forum session on our BarCamp Istanbul web site. We even have a group for that; called Eylem 2.0, which means Action 2.0

If you are in Turkey, please register and join the Eylem 2.0 subgroup. We will keep you in loop from there. If we don’t say stop now, the censorship will arise, we should show our resistance, we’re already too late.

            

Vote for hakia!

hakia is a webware finalist in Search & Reference. More info available on our blog:

To vote for hakia and our semantic search, visit http://www.webware.com/html/ww/100/2008/vote_search.html?compid=103465

            

Social Networks of the world and the winner is…

Le Monde has a nice picture illustrating which social network dominates which country:

I’ve tried almost all of them. And my choice is… CyWorld. I hope Facebook will not make another faux pas by dropping apps into a dark corner of user profiles, these frequent policy changes are getting alienating for developers.

            

Biggest Success of Y Combinator? Scribd

Scribd has launched the iPaper platform. More information is available on their site. Although I’m a big fan of Scribd from its day one, what concerns more here is the investment part of the venture, because their backers include Y Combinator, which has innovated one of the most interesting and debatable VC models ever.

When you ask Paul Graham what their successful ventures are, he’d tell you, reddit and Loopt. Yes, Loopt is Sequoia backed but its future is still ambiguous, I think. As for reddit, albeit it has a huge traffic now, their exit was not so great as far as I know, and they owe their current level of success partly to Wired.

But Scribd fits perfectly into Y Combinator’s vision. A group of young hackers building a platform that all of us use… http://www.scribd.com/static/jobs has more info on the team. And I think they’re gonna have a great exit, something that will finally validate Y Combinator’s model.