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A curation of corporate and individual entrepreneurial stories from GenWise founders Zeynep Kurmuş and Tuğrul Ağırbaş, focusing on venturing.
Tuğrul Ağırbaş, who has led in the FMCG sector in Turkey, Russia, and neighboring geographies for over 30 years, stands out as one of the key figures who guided acquisition, merger, and new market entry projects, especially during Efes's journey to become a global brand. With a vision to transform organizations with an 'entrepreneurial company' mindset, Ağırbaş has made significant contributions to the ecosystem in innovation, intrapreneurship, and start-up collaborations. Today, he provides consulting and mentorship to corporate companies and startups, and actively participates as an angel investor in social impact-focused projects. His approach of owning every task in his corporate life as if it were his own business is one of the most critical driving forces behind Genwise.
Gökçe Zeynep Kurmuş began her career in market research, bringing her experience gained at Piar Gallup and SIAR to the world of corporate training and facilitation as a partner at Şensezgin Kurmuş consulting firm; over the past 25 years, she has designed and implemented thousands of projects, programs, and ideas. Kurmuş, who has taken active roles in both the business world and civil society (e.g., PWN Istanbul, KODA, Üsküdar American Alumni Association), is a creator who believes in the potential of individuals and organizations to 'create value' and loves bringing together the right methods and the right people. Today, as a co-founder of Genwise, she plays a pioneering role in redesigning learning experiences and designing programs that specifically open doors for new beginnings.
A different guest at each meeting to draw inspiration and courage from others' experiences.
How to draw strength from your surroundings, and how to progress together?
New connections over delicious snacks, on-the-spot explorations perhaps wondering if your future is being shaped right here, and new ideas and projects swirling in your head on the way home...
Ayşen Zamanpur is a graduate of Robert College and Boğaziçi University's Business Administration program. She served as a Planning Specialist for approximately five and a half years in the Planning and Economic Research Department of Şişecam Factories General Directorate. Her entrepreneurial journey began in 1988 with the opening of her first Benetton store at Galleria Shopping Center in Istanbul. Subsequently, her trip to Inner Mongolia in 1992 allowed her to intimately experience the homeland of cashmere and inspired one of the most significant transformations in her life. With the vision born from this experience, she founded the Silk and Cashmere brand, creating a global brand that combined high-quality cashmere with accessible luxury. In the same year, she opened the first Silk and Cashmere store in Zurich. Zamanpur served as CEO of Silk & Cashmere for 28 years, a brand that has been the subject of numerous case studies and theses on entrepreneurship and brand management academically, and has received a total of 23 national and international awards. She is one of the founders of KAGİDER and KADER associations, which support women's entrepreneurship. She also authored the books 'The Cashmere Road' and 'Resist, Goat,' sharing her entrepreneurial experience, brand journey, and personal transformation in these works. Her course 'Entrepreneurship: From Idea to Brand' at Neoskola is among the most-watched training programs.
