Hürriyet – Erdem Genç

Breaking the mental image of what a boss looks like, Erdem Genç founded his own company at 20, grew its revenue into the millions of dollars, and — without ever putting off his dream of touring the world, and treating his work like a hobby — shared his inspiring success story with Yaşar University students at age 33. Having guided young entrepreneurs three years earlier with his book "Boss at 20", Erdem Genç said, "When you find a good business idea, don't be afraid to put it into practice. And if you build it with passion, success will surely follow. Remember, it's not all about money — it's about time and happiness."

While studying Mechanical Engineering at Yıldız Technical University, Erdem Genç was elected chairman of the university's rock club and began organizing concerts on campus. "As a member of a rock band, alongside playing successful concerts, I also started putting on successful music events. When I began earning money from it — and enjoying it immensely — I founded an events company called M3 to make it professional. Along the way, I got the chance to meet major organizers like Ahmet Sun and tried to learn the finer points of the business. But my first big event outside campus was a huge failure. We expected 20,000 people for a concert featuring famous rock artists like Hayko Cepkin, Duman, and Erkin Koray, but heavy rain meant barely 2,000 showed up. All my savings were seized, and I ended up deeply in debt," he said.

HIS BUSINESS: ENTERTAINING THE BUSINESS WORLD

Speaking as a guest of the Yaşar University Entrepreneurship Society about how he succeeded, Erdem Genç, founder of the corporate activity and events company M3 Works, said: "To pay off my debts, I did various side jobs for a while, like selling products online and doing web design. But despite the bad experience I'd had, I never gave up on doing the work I loved and enjoyed so much. If you have a job you love, it's impossible not to succeed. With M3 Works, which I founded at 20, I went on to run many successful events. That way, I paid off my debts and grew my revenue into the millions of dollars. In other words, I chose the path of entrepreneurship over the career path laid out for me. In 2015, M3 Works won Best Event Supplier at the World Tourism Forum, attended by tourism leaders from around the world. When you find a good business idea, don't be afraid to put it into practice. And if you build it with passion, success will surely follow."

WHO IS ERDEM GENÇ

A graduate of Mechanical Engineering at Yıldız Technical University and Public Relations at Anadolu University, Erdem Genç is the owner of M3 Works, a company that runs team-building and motivation workshops for corporations, and a founding partner of Park Kitap Yayıncılık Hizmetleri and Gizlimoda.com. He also pursues literature, music, and photography, and has two books, "Boss at 20" and "Debut". Having given seminars on "Entrepreneurship" at more than thirty universities, Erdem Genç holds awards from various institutions including TÜGİAD, Boğaziçi University, Startup Weekend, JCI, Lions, Peryön, and Eduplus.