Hi y'all.

I'll be telling you the story of how this perfect team came together.

I like to think I have a way with words, so if you end up having a boring reading experience, I honestly don’t care-it’s been fun for me.

Last year (that would be 2025), İhsan and I founded a technology team working on Hyperloop technology.

I know, it’s a super technical field, and you might say, “What does that have to do with anything?” (I ask myself the same question sometimes.) Still, it turned out to be an incredible experience for us.

After absolutely crushing the local competitions, we couldn’t slow down and ended up competing at European Hyperloop Week in the Netherlands, one of the world’s biggest organizations in this field.

Out of 258 teams, we placed 5th.

The day before we were set to return home, while walking slowly from the Van Gogh Museum toward Dam Square in Amsterdam, I told İhsan about a dream of mine. (By the way, I got my phone stolen 1–2 hours after this moment, if anyone reading this from the Netherlands has it, I’d be very happy if you reached out.)

I told him I wanted to build an AI-based product that genuinely touches people’s lives, far away from deeptech (thank God).

I imagined a four-person team.

For the two people other than İhsan and myself, I made a potential list. (This might sound a bit creepy, but sometimes it has to be this way.)

At the very top of a list of about ten people was Ali, one of the most outstanding students in Boğaziçi University’s Computer Engineering department (I mean… 3.94 GPA in computer engineering, how is that even possible?).

I needed someone to handle all the technical mumbo-jumbo I don’t fully understand.

Then there was Kerem-with startup experience, exposure to Innovis VC, and strong product instincts I’d seen firsthand in his own mobility startup. I had watched him passionately explain what he was building on stage (Passion is the biggest indicator for me.).

I also needed a friend I could wake up and talk product with when I couldn’t sleep at night-(though he is a bit sensitive about his sleep).

Long story short, this is the supreme, flawless (just kidding) founding team that brought mia! to life-and will save you from all those bullshit meetings.

Before mia!, we actually had a bunch of different startup ideas.

The team came before the idea.

We were discussing all these ideas in endless online meetings, and at some point, I had no choice but to make those bullshit meetings productive. That’s how mia! started to take shape.

After we complete our mission at mia! and exit, maybe our other ideas will get their turn. (I want to continue my life as a secretary bird.)

And jokes aside: some people thought our bird was a rooster.

NO. IT IS A SECRETARY BIRD.

And yes, when it gets hungry enough, it eats fireflies. :)

If you want to be part of this team, here’s what you need:

Be smart

Be passionate

Be interested in football (jk-the third one is optional.) (I support Fenerbahçe, and yes, we have to be champions this year.)

This story didn’t just start, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to end easily either.

Some VCs might ask: “Why are you doing this while you’re still students?”
The answer is simple: if you wait another year, you might need a few extra million dollars just to bring these four people into the same room again.

So take your seats, and enjoy our story.