Why I support start-ups

Last week I wrote about the security of the voting and vote counting processes in Turkey. Now that the voting is over and the Vote and Beyond platform verified the results, I can talk about a very nice initiative that I had to skip last week. 

Uber is one of those brands that if you are a user you like it and if you are in the same industry you hate it. Not only because they disrupt the industry of urban transportation, they also upgrade it. While doing so they win the hearts and minds of the people. That is the real power of global game changers like Uber and AirBnb. They are not cheap, they do not change the outcome of the service (going from A to B) but they change the “how” and the level of service. 

Furthermore, they do corporate social responsibility projects. On the day of the voting, Uber carried people for free. The service targeted the elderly, disabled and the ballot representatives first and foremost but anyone who called an Uber vehicle to any ballot in Istanbul received a free ride. 

This move comes from a private cooperation. It is not to be compared with the initiatives of the government, where they provide free services to meetings with the money they get as taxes from citizens. A private cooperation took such an action and did not ask which party the voters would vote for when they were riding with Uber. 

Recently, they started a new initiative where you can pet a dog without an owner for 15 minutes and they charge you 30 Turkish Liras for it. All the money they receive will go to the Haçiko Foundation. The campaign is today from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

I wonder how many Turkish companies did anything real for the people to vote? There is only one company that I could find. It is called Kapgel, a startup that “gets” and “brings” anything you want to anywhere you want. 

So what about the bigger companies? Maybe they posted something on Facebook but did nothing. The “real” support came from the startup scene and the technology industry. 

That is the difference between new and old generation companies. The old generation is stuck with status quos, and they hesitate to take action. The new generation has the public’s benefit first and they would not hesitate to take action, even if it means that they lose money. 

The future will be designed by startups.