Lets bare it out as it should be, the Startup Event Connecting East and the West is Startup Istanbul! It features a whole lot of innovation in the technology industry where you find startups you’ve not even heard of pitch and get mentorship to begin their business.

Startup Istanbul is organized by Etohum, a leading accelerator and seed investor organization in Turkey. Hundreds of entrepreneurs and investors from USA, Europe, and Asia come together under the roof of this event and shared their knowledge and experiences with the participants and proposed new solutions for the further development of the ecosystem.

Just in case you’re wondering what on earth is Etohum, it is the leading startup accelerator and seed investor in Turkey. Every year, Etohum is selecting the most promising startups from thousands of applicants. These teams are trained and mentored for an acceleration period of 3 months. Etohum works with world-class mentors, including advisors from Silicon Valley, the heart of entrepreneurship. Etohum organizes the biggest and most impactful entrepreneurship events in Turkey. Startup Istanbul and Startup Turkey are the two of them.

Startup Istanbul is the biggest final of the year for startups around the region.

Startup Istanbul is the leading startup event that brings together founders, investors and executives in the region. It’s a gathering of the leading startups, internet companies, business angels and venture capitalists connecting East and West.

Who Can Attend Startup Istanbul?

The event is targeted at those who are actively engaged or willing to engage in the startup ecosystem. You can register from here. Startup Istanbul needs various humans operating in their various niche to step forward and put their innovations and company on the global scale.

The event is an exclusive gathering of the leading startups, internet companies, angel investors and venture capitalists from all around the globe. This year, 500 startups, 300 investors and 4000 attendees will come to Istanbul to join the event.

This event is made of networking. Every person you meet can give you inspiring ideas, valuable advice, and opportunities for collaboration. You can find your investor, your mentor or the right startup to join or invest in. The only thing you need is energy and passion for entrepreneurship.

Startup Turkey and Startup Istanbul events are organized by Etohum.

So What Are You Waiting For?

You shouldn’t let anything hold you down. If you have an innovative idea, a startup to scale or need mentoring for your startup, then make way to attend the Startup Istanbul for 2020. You’ll not regret it!

For two years now these words were my moral restraint as they kept rising in my head ever since the MC repeatedly sang it in one occasion I attended. They probe my conscience whenever I am about to judge someone. We are all books with distinct personalities as our covers with a content/character that most often betrays the conspicuous. We judge and are judged. We give and take opinions about people. All of these combine to influence our relationships.

Whatever/whoever we spend time on/with, we tend to know more about it/them. At the work place, most employees only know themselves professionally and this most time defines how they relate. I have always known that the best way to know someone is to live with him. Because we don’t always get that opportunity we must seize it when it arises; and this I did when I hung out with some of my colleagues on their invite.

Before the rendezvous on 2019 new year’s eve, I knew peoples’ thoughts about John, not real name, but I never allowed that to influence how I interacted with him because I know better. They said he was inefficient, incompetent, and confused on the job. I was tempted to concur to that because whenever I worked on his files there were always issues that I hardly find in those of others. Even his disposition seem to give credence to the negative conversations. He looked timid and spoke with fear. Always apologising and asking for clemency.

On that night, I saw the real John. He changed to the complete opposite of the Office John. What happened?! He got confirmed. That was the magic. I was bewildered as I watched him with the disciplined focus of a scientist peering through a microscope. He beckoned to the waiter to take our order. He lit a cigarette, pulled in the nicotine saturated gas and puffed it out into the air. This time he was in charge. In expressing his gratitude for our role to see that he was not sacked that was when I knew the cause of his inability to meet his target when he should. He just buried his late father barely three months ago. Coming out from a long period of unemployment with piled up bills on the home front, it was a challenge to focus at work with an impending sack. He missed his Dad due to the bond they shared. ‘I still hear my Dad’s voice on the phone after work asking, “John where are you now.”‘ According to him.

The office was scheduled to close three hours before the usual time but we all stayed behind to attend to only and all of John’s clients. He said, “I came to work today believing it to be my last here. I prayed and told God that His will should be done. I have tried my best.” He was full of praises to God.

Now I can judge him. Those who judged and condemned him before knowing him would be shocked to see a new efficient, competent and composed John with zest. This is what a confirmation with good pay increase and other good benefits can do to a depressed employee. I felt so happy and proud to have played a role in saving someone’s job on the last day of the year. This would not only keep food on his table but increase the quantity and quality. We sent John and his family into year 2020 in celebration. No better way to end the year.

So, before you speak about someone in this new year, try to know why they act that way. In other words, if you don’t know me, don’t judge me.

Have a splendid new year!

Tesla has begun to deliver its model 3 cars built in China. The U.S electric automaker said the delivery will take effect December 30, in preparation of full scale sales before the Chinese New Year.

In January, Tesla delved into its first production adventure outside the U.S. soil, building a plant in China. Production started in October with a target of 250, 000 vehicles a year when the Model Y was added to the initial phase.

It has been just a year since the company took the first steps in China, as a result of the government’s relaxation of its 50%+2 rules that opened the window for foreign automakers to establish in China for the first time in many years. The rule has kept foreign investors at bear for years and enabled indigenous growth of car manufacturers.

A statement from Tesla said that the first 15 customers to receive their cars today are the company employees. The Model 3 and Model Y cars are priced at 355, 800 Yuan ($50, 000) before subsidies were granted by the Chinese Government because the cars were produced from Tesla’s factory in Shanghai.

The Shanghai plant became a center of attraction to the locals from inception and the thrill of Tesla electric vehicles spurred overwhelming preorder earlier in the year. The plant also tuned down the intensity of the U.S-China trade war that cuts across many areas of investment with a negative impact.

China has become the world biggest auto market where electric vehicles are thriving. Last year, 1.3 million New-Energy Vehicles (NEV), were sold in the country, and it opened ways for further interests. Tesla is trying to cash in on the huge market by offering special treatment to china.

Apart from the subsidies for the first models of Tesla in the country, the automaker is offering racing events and showroom parties. It is also building service centers and charging stations across China to assure customers of standardized after-sales services, according to a report by Reuters.

The goodwill gesture appears to be mutual between China and Tesla as the Chinese Government has been supportive. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said last week that it has added Tesla Model 3 to a list of new energy vehicles exempt from purchase tax. In August, the Ministry had announced that it has exempted all tesla models from purchase tax.

After the purchase tax exemption, the Model 3 orders spiked and hit around 6, 400. This is because the tax exemption lowered the cost of the vehicles. The lowest-priced standard-range version of that car is about $50, 000 (355, 000 Yuan) but it has been brought down to about $14, 000 (99, 000). The tax exemption is more like a subsidy and it has increased the demand, putting up a demand spike that Tesla has said it wouldn’t be able to meet in a short time.

The automaker said the Shanghai factory won’t be able to make Model 3s in high volumes, which means, producing 1, 000-2, 000 cars per week until mid-2020. Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk highlighted some of the challenges that need to be tackled to meet the current demand.

“We need to bring Shanghai factory online. I think that’s the biggest variable for getting to 500, 000-plus a year. Our car is just very expensive going into china. We’ve got transport costs, we’ve got higher costs of labor here,” he said.

So the possibility of making up the demand in China with cars produced in the U.S has been ruled out due to labor and logistics cost. Tesla is to rely completely on cars produced at the Shanghai factory to satisfy the demand, and that will take some time.

While China remains a promising market for Tesla, the challenge hangs on its capacity to meet the demand of buyers. The tax break is only for made-in-China cars and that has practically ruled out any possibility of shipment from the U.S. due to cost and Chinese trade laws, especially in the face of ongoing trade war with the U.S.

It is not sure how long the purchase tax exemption will be in play, but If the Shanghai factory fails to increase its production capacity before the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology withdraws the tax break, there may be a significant drop in sales for Tesla due to potential increase in the cost of purchase.