Bek Ventures

Meet Bek Ventures! ?? The best-performing VC fund globally has a new name.? Introducing the quietly thought-provoking venture firm.? After months of development, we’re excited to finally launch our new name, independent brand and latest fund. This will build on the legacy we have established during our decade as Digital East Fund (ex-Earlybird Venture Capital) supporting the most innovative founders in Europe’s most dynamic markets. We have been driven by the belief that discipline is the key to success in VC. As Bek Ventures, our team remains completely committed to building a focused portfolio of exceptional founders, and our new fund allows us to do just that. This means we can give our brilliant founders the most important resources we can: our time, care and attention. Our new brand is about reinforcing our commitment to our principles. Read more about how we approach venture by following the link in the comments section ??

DraftWise, a company at the forefront of legal tech, is revolutionizing the industry with the precision and deep understanding that its team, many from Palantir Technologies, brings to the table. Recently, our managing partner Mehmet Selcuk Atici spoke with James Ding, co-founder and former engineer, about the key factor to DraftWise’s rapid growth: “You can’t just ask your users for opinions, you need to dig into real experiences. Facts over feelings — that’s what drives real solutions.” DraftWise is tackling one of the toughest challenges in the legal industry, convincing top law firms, often seen as laggards, to embrace AI-powered technologies. They did this by: ? Obsessing over customer needs: Real user feedback, not surface-level opinions. ? Prioritizing long-term impact: Patience and persistence lead to meaningful results. ? Understanding industry nuance: Tailoring solutions to the specific needs of law firms and legal teams. Read more in the comments ??

Have you found yourself in a room with key decision makers discussing derivative problems without getting to the root cause? The best tech leaders try to identify what is really wrong before jumping into problem solving. After speaking with hundreds of leaders, we’ve identified two lines of questioning that decision makers can use to identify the root cause of a problem: - Communication: Is this a failure of internal or external communication?? - People: Is this related to the people involved? We show how to apply this simple technique to some of the most common startup problems so founders can go from diagnosis to solution faster. Read more about our tried and tested framework for diagnosing startup issues in the comments ????

UiPath’s success was not a surprise for us. As the company’s first investors, we saw the potential in founder Daniel Dines' vision and his passion for the product from the start. Our managing partner Cem Sertoglu sat down recently with Daniel to talk about the power of iteration, founder mode, and staying close to your product even when you’re the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company. A few key insights from the man who led Europe’s biggest-ever tech IPO and revolutionized AI-powered automation: “You start with a simple problem. You iterate…If you look too distant into the future, you risk either overengineering or creating too big of a structure.” "A sales motion can break a company, but cannot make a company." From the start, VCs heavily overlooked UiPath. Today, the company stands as a testament to the power of persistence and belief in your vision. Read more in the comments: ??

Have you found yourself in a room with key decision makers discussing derivative problems without getting to the root cause? The best tech leaders try to identify what is really wrong before jumping into problem solving. After speaking with hundreds of leaders, we’ve identified two lines of questioning that decision makers can use to identify the root cause of a problem: - Communication: Is this a failure of internal or external communication?? - People: Is this related to the people involved? We show how to apply this simple technique to some of the most common startup problems so founders can go from diagnosis to solution faster. Read more about our tried and tested framework for diagnosing startup issues in the comments ????

Last week our Managing Partner Cem Sertoglu sat down with Andreas Munk Holm on the EUVC podcast. Here’s a reminder of what they talked about: - The importance of being disciplined in VC but still staying open to questioning your investment thesis - Prioritising impactful contribution, in a world of throw-away commentary and generalizations - The story behind Bek’s track record as the world’s top-performing VC fund Listen to the full episode in the comments, in case you missed it ?? #founder #funding #vc #business

How Kosta Jordanov and his team built a global live-streaming powerhouse with millions of users — while harnessing the power of the pivot.? Kosta’s journey with FITE (now TrillerTV) included not one, but two major pivots on his path to creating the world’s number one grossing app across all categories.? Other keys to FITE’s success: technical excellence from their Bulgarian team, smart market positioning in pay-per-view, and courage to be transparent with investors when the business model needed to change. Kosta’s advice for founders: "Start small, test quickly, and use data. Create an MVP instead of going large from day one." Read more about how he mastered the pivot and achieved global scale, link in comments ??

“VC has become a publicly followed industry, which is a bit strange. It creates a weird incentive for VCs to make very loud proclamations…which I usually find miss the mark.” Our Managing Partner Cem Sertoglu sat down with Andreas Munk Holm on the EUVC podcast to talk about: - Why making noise in venture isn’t correlated with creating value - Why VCs shouldn’t compromise time and attention to founders just to grow AUM - The story behind Bek’s track record as the world’s top-performing VC fund Listen to the full episode below ?? #founder #funding #vc #business

This is the one hiring secret that all outlier companies share… They know how to hire for potential — not just experience. Time-stretched founders often gravitate towards candidates with impressive CVs,? thinking that experience will solve their immediate problems. But hiring for adaptability and future capacity — what we call potential — is often more valuable in the long term:? -Early-stage companies are constantly evolving. Employees need to be able to grow with the business. -High-potential employees thrive in fluid, fast-changing environments, creating a positive feedback loop that helps increase retention.? Read more about how we suggest founders find high-potential individuals and create a place for them to thrive, ultimately building more successful businesses. Link in the comments ??

We are excited to continue to support Grand Games in their $30m Series A after leading their pre-seed round less than a year ago. Despite our team’s deep experience in gaming with Peak Games (now Zynga), we have maintained a selective approach to investing in the industry. The Grand team convinced us they had the exceptional talent and bold vision to build an enduring company. They have proven their ability to execute beyond a doubt, recruiting a world-class team and launching two successful titles in just under 10 months.? Congratulations to Bekir Batuhan ?elebi, Mehmet ?al?m, Mustafa F?rt?na, and the whole team! It’s also a pleasure to work alongside Balderton Capital on this round. Read more in TechCrunch at the link in the comments.?