Everything we got wrong in 2025

Honestly, after a long... well, after December 31st, on December 31st, in the last podcast of the year, we're currently on the fourth recording. 4's take... quite a lot of light and sound. We only managed to advance a maximum of 30 seconds, but it was great, look, it's continuing at 25 seconds now . That was good. Exactly. Exactly. Things go wrong like this; we're making podcasts under very difficult circumstances.

Well, there's nothing we can do about it . We'll tell our grandchildren about our struggle with technology someday, brother. Did you know under what conditions we made our podcasts back then? If I had studied software development. Dilemma, what if you had studied software development with your grandson? How are you doing? Awesome, bro. It's explosive. Well, it's the eve of a lovely New Year's Eve . We finished some work the morning after a lovely New Year's Eve .

It's great, we deserve a rest like this. The whole team is on holiday today. What are you doing around here? It's already a free holiday for everyone. Here's a holiday adventure that begins on Christmas Eve. From what I understand, there wo n't be many employees working next week either. Then people start coming back around the middle of January. But it turned out well . I'm alone in the office.

Normally, for example, in the area where I'm recording this podcast right now, talking is prohibited. As a rebellious person myself, I thought this was my chance and I'm recording this episode in the e-library . So, let's just say I'm participating in this section from the library . That's why I'll miss these days too. But what if someone comes in right now, for example, and wants to read a book?

A quiet space is needed. I took a bit of a risk there. That's the risk. Exactly. So, one guy just grabbed me and said, " Enough is enough, we're not going to get anything done after taking two-hour breaks every lunchtime for so many years ." He made the decision precisely for today. He said, "I'm going to enter 2026 reading books with my brother." He opens the door.

There was this one guy in the library, we were doing a podcast, you know. If I were in that situation, you know what I would do? Damn it, the social order is already broken anyway. I don't read books, it's not my language . You could be ruining a young person's life . Well, there's something else... There are books in the library, but I haven't seen anyone reading them here so far.

I don't know him at all. Where do you go to work, for example, at a library? Nobody reads books. It seems to be working for me. Are they studying there? Well, they pick it up and read it privately. Oh my god, I was so scared . The light went out. It looks much better now. A divine light shone upon my face. Yes. Yes. Exactly. Something happened. That felt good, man.

Well, 90% of those who study there are working. Yes. It's computer-related and all that, but it's nothing special, not like decoration. So you're basically buying books, packaged in cardboard boxes or something. Perhaps that's why people don't read it there . So, for example, I'll pick it up and read it now, take a quick look, and then put it back down again . I don't think they took anything home with them.

A record system is not like a library. Are you talking about this place? Yes. So, the books are n't stamped or anything like that, but you can take them home, man. Such a thing exists. Then you're probably generating a return. Then you bring it, you know, by request, like, there used to be collectives, remember? I don't know. There would also be books in collective houses. They would say things like, "Please bring it back," or something like that.

Then they removed it, probably because nobody brought it back . Oh, of course. For example, I sometimes buy books from secondhand bookstores here. I buy second-hand books. It says something on the front, man. For example, it says something like, "This book belongs to such and such library of Bahçeşehir University," and so on. So obviously someone bought it. Then, when they moved, they gave it away and never took it back .

Exactly. Yes. Today we decided to talk about that thing. We thought we'd share our thoughts and ideas about what we've done and what we've learned in our 2025 self-assessment. Of course, without any prior preparation, we'll just share our classic, now freestyle, feelings and emotions. Okay, let's see. I took a few notes. Here are the notes I took. I wrote down the things you mentioned in your last LinkedIn post.

I'm dropping it down. You did five things, right? Well, if you want, we can do something like that. So, when we discuss those topics, logically speaking, in 2025, we're talking about the mistakes we made on that journey we started as a couple. So, the question is, what mistakes did we make when starting a startup, when forming a company, or more precisely, when creating a product-based business ?

Now, listen to our side of the story. It's as if all these things haven't disappeared. But, but there used to be nights. That's exactly the concept. Of course it still exists, but I don't know about it. That was exactly the concept, wasn't it? People were telling stories of failure and so on. Yes. I guess then, a little bit, the same things started repeating themselves, I don't know.

There's something going on there again. It didn't work, it didn't progress. People seem bored. Anyway, let's begin. Then say one thing that comes from your heart. Let me tell you now. You added something. Too many features. So, actually, we're approaching this from a product perspective here, but we can also adapt this to companies that provide services, or those that aren't products, and translate it like this... Too much...

What do you call it? Don't offer too many side features, man. Yes. I think, genetically speaking, we've branched out quite a bit . Yes. Exactly. And we delivered most of those very impulsively. For example, let's say things are going well for us right now, and we're discussing it with you, but even our analytics screen makes very impulsive decisions. We said, " The brands want this," so we did it.

For example, we say, "Okay, let's include this too." For example, you get an idea one weekend . You call me on Sunday. Brother, it's something like that. Oh, that's great! You 're deploying it Sunday evening. We now have such a future on Monday morning. For example, they can't do that anymore. Now that Bülent has arrived, the senior is doing something... He says you can't. Exactly. Our guy was basically like an old university project, man.

We wake people up like Cüneyt Ark. A completely different screen. It's something completely different. Even we were getting frustrated. That's because of something else. It's not that he's just making soup, it's like he wants this and that too, you know, like a hungry child walking into a candy store, wanting all the sweets, but he can't eat them all, his stomach can't handle it . Exactly. I think there's another aspect to this, you know, I believe there's something like this going on with the matter.

It was also good that you mentioned the service aspect, for example. We also had this, for example. For example, we've started and we're moving forward, and our first 10-15 customers are retailers. Is it ok? Things like retailers, e-commerce, and so on. Then, for example, I insisted that we were going to enter the gaming industry. Let's find Painpoint in the gaming industry. Let's find the "painp" in the gaming industry.

I'm thinking about it right now. Okay, so finding the painpin in the gaming industry still isn't illogical. This is where we excel in mobile analytics. Mobile measurement is good and all that, but it's unnecessary, for example, when you have a really good streamline. There are a few huge industries where you can find your pain point and solve your problem. Out of greed, I mean, completely expansionist, like, let's spread there too.

For example, I'm sure if we had solved it in mobile, and we had a few mobile brands, some of which are still in the process of POC (Proof of Concept) and so on. If we did that, I would definitely jump to another sector from there . For example, this means we've become too scattered, not just in the feature area, but also in the sales and marketing aspects, because we wanted to do everything.

And besides, being able to do it... well, to use a metaphor, there's a saying, "No wind can help a sailor who doesn't know his course," it's exactly like that. So, something is blowing from there , and something is blowing from here. Okay, there's a thing, we're on the sea, but we can't get to where we want to go. Because, for example, just when we're about to leave, we suddenly veer off into something else.

We're circling around here . Now, this is a significant achievement. Why is it such a big acquisition? Companies, well, I won't call them companies, but really, newly started startups achieve this through mentorship and things like that . So, they're... taking experiences, people who have lived through it, observing and adapting those experiences, and so on. Nothing like that happened to us. Why didn't it work? Firstly, because the work we do is in a very niche area, the specific needs of the customer and our capabilities have never quite matched.

So either our approach was completely up in the air, or the customers' needs or capabilities were in a completely different place. And so, it turned into... So let's do everything, let's do everything. Well, let's make all the sacrifices . So, let's make all the necessary sacrifices, not just considering it as a feature, but also as a service . Let's set it up, prepare a new report, and so on.

Whether it's this one or that one , it doesn't matter. this time we barely even noticed it. So, even sectorally or industrially, people's needs can differ. But we wanted something straightforward, something generic, something that everyone could come and connect with. Well , that didn't quite work out, to be honest. Scrolling down a bit further, I don't know, is our "go to market" strategy going to be gaming?

Brother, then we need to be completely out of touch with the gaming industry for 6 months or something like that. Exactly. And we didn't. It's a good thing it didn't happen. Why didn't it work? I mean, that's why I'm saying this. Well, if we had focused specifically on that one channel, we would have missed other opportunities. Other opportunities are also not in a different industry. Sectors that may be ready and receptive to gaming.

So, it's more of a generic mobile app, because at the end of day one, mobile apps, gaming apps, I think that was a good thing. The fact that we were able to say that it's an industry-agnostic product, you know? Instead of trying to sell or market industrially, we needed to focus on our specific features and evolve towards a more planned and organized approach. Right now, for example, one of the things I'm still most proud of— and this might sound silly—is that we have a really good feature.

Session replay. We haven't picked up the live animal yet. We haven't even started testing yet. The product is sitting idle . On the other hand, internally, we focused on improving the existing features of the product, and so on. There was a point where I thought, "I guess that's just how we learned this place." oh yes, if it weren't for that jam or that blockage, we would have already released Session Replay .

We were dealing with things like, you know, how many minutes it should last, and so on, we were talking about those things. Exactly. Exactly. but the product is already online, right ? We sold the product while it was online . We have everything. So at that time, we were still... trying to get the caravan in order. That's a big mistake, I mean, we already categorize these as mistakes, under the heading of "mistakes."

Yes. It's a mistake, but I think we 've learned a lot from it. There's a saying, "better late than never," and actually, people tend to learn things and then try to get on track before actually doing those things I mentioned about mentorship. We, on the other hand, do the opposite; we learn and then immediately change direction, so I think we learn better in a way. Well, all of this includes both administrative processes and business processes .

So there are a lot of things, a lot of topics . The product or service is just one of them . No, absolutely not. So what do you think about the second thing I wrote there, about the team ? So, what did you write about the team? Let's take a look . I must have said something like, "Brother," or something similar. That's not true at all .

You haven't said anything. Haven't we grown fast enough? Didn't we get enough people in early? I must have said something like that. Brother, I'll check right away... Barış Gürbüzzerzler... proverbs, idioms, dictionary... Barış's Inspirational Quotes book. Brother, there's something... There's something about community, community. That's fine too. That's fine too. And then we'll get back to that, to the people. Let me give my opinion in the community section first, then I'll listen to you.

Back when Hardal first came out, some early followers might remember, around 2022-2023, there was a Hardal Discord channel, and I looked at it. Of course, it's a very inactive channel now, nobody's there anymore, but there are still about 50-60 people there. And so we tried all sorts of different things. For example, we started a very small forum, and we wondered if we should create a community on, and so on.

And I, for instance, was always one of those who were hesitant about investing here, always wanting to take it step by step . And now when I look back, this is what I see. Completely unrelated people are talking about Hardal. By irrelevant, I mean that people we don't have much contact with are recommending Hardal to each other . We get people coming to us, completely unexpectedly, saying they want to use Hardal, based on their referrals, and so on .

Without realizing it, a community has started to form, and now I'm thinking, I wish we had put in the effort and work towards a more planned community building effort starting from the beginning of 2025, with social events and so on. Well, I've always said that the product and sales should come first, and the community should come later, but actually, I'm starting to think it might be one of the things that should come first .

So, that's why we definitely need to dedicate a lot of serious effort, energy, and resources to this place by 2026. I still don't know what format it should be in. Will it be a dislike channel or a WhatsApp group? Anyway, will it be a forum? But I'm at a point where I think action could have been taken sooner. What do you think? I agree with that, by the way.

Well, this year is definitely like that, we had already made our plans, so this year will be a year where we focus on events, sponsorships, community building, and those things . Our attempt to build an e-community 23 years ago also shows how important this is, how much importance we place on this issue . Because it had gotten under something like that even though there was no fold, no egg present .

Is n't that crazy, by the way? Why did we do that? People say, "You know, there are community managers, things like organizing meetings, and there's branding involved." You know, when nothing was ready, we thought, "Hey, we're going to create a Discord channel, I guess..." You create a Discord channel, people join, and you form a community. People, come there. On the one hand, I'm thinking this... Our first hing was in 2022, back when Hardal didn't even exist yet, Mehmet Shoutout to Mehmet.

Mehmet Hardal was one of the first members and started as a community manager. So, our first high point was actually community manager. and Web treken. Web treken, so actually, as you said, while we had a belief in the value of community within ourselves, then suddenly life happens and... well, we postponed it. Or did that consciousness exist, as you said? Maybe, I don't know, maybe we did n't achieve the community we wanted back then, and maybe we got upset, or maybe I just lost faith?

I don't know what happened. Brother, you know, if you remember, back then, we were making a notion board, and we'd made it public, and people were warning us, saying, " Hey, your notion board is public, and we've written all sorts of things on that public board, like it was internal, all our competitor analyses, our planning, everything." It was useful, right? So, back then, we were a public company, brother.

It really was like that. That thing is nice, that thing... who said that? Someone told us, someone said we wouldn't have noticed even if they hadn't. We also used to share ads and things like that from there . Anyway, so, since we weren't building the system around community building, I mean, Mehmet or just one other person, in total we were still just three people, and what we were trying to do with those three people was something incredibly difficult.

I mean, we were asking Mehmet for content, and other things too. On the one hand, we're trying to manage general things and so on, but since we're not focusing on specific approvals, for example, right now there's an open-source application called Discourse that's just sitting idle, and we deployed it . We haven't even been able to log in and do anything yet . For example, we established an academy, but we couldn't bring the academy to life.

They're all community- related projects, you know. These are events that will connect developers or marketers with the product, but... this hasn't gotten around to at all . So I think that's one of the most important things we've learned. I do n't know. I'm not sure about that. So, which comes first, product or community? I'm not entirely sure, but I know we just haven't been able to focus on that.

If we had focused more, could Product have been this competent this time? That's also a mystery. Exactly, bro. We don't know that part either. I don't think it made sense in 2024 or so, but in 2025, at least that's my feeling, more energy and effort could have been devoted to that area. But a lot happened in 2025 too . A lot has really happened since the beginning of 2025 .

Let 's say 2026 now. I'm amazed, I really am amazed sometimes. yeah, yes, brother, we need to learn to be happy, we need to learn to be satisfied. It does n't necessarily have to be a good thing that something happened. Something bad might happen. To be prepared for everything or to foresee everything. Oh brother, it adds a lot. So, well, may whatever is best for us happen, honestly .

So I'm very happy, man. Honestly, it's nice to even be talking about these things. For example, let me move on to the third point. The community I mentioned earlier, which one was it again ? Well, I think, for example, regarding the "hing" issue, I'm noticing something else. For example, our team now consists of 10 people. At the beginning of 2025, we were... well, about four people. So, the product team consisted only of you and Mert, for example.

Now there's Bülent, there's İkbal, and Ecem has joined the group, and so on. Oh, Emre, Emir, Emir, he said it again, now he shouldn't do that . Emir is also from the Product team. Now, when we look at it, the team is more like this, there's more synergy, and I think the added value for both you and me has increased much more as a result . So, let's just say it increased exponentially.

So, each person who came wasn't just adding value as one person, but actually starting to add value equivalent to about 1.5 or 2 times that amount . And for a long time, I held myself back in that regard . So, should we welcome a new person, bro? Let's wait. Are we sure it's really necessary? My concern about this always stemmed from something else. I mean, we all saw that in the places I worked before.

It's happening even now. Because I've hired so many people and then had to lay them off after a while, my constant worry has been, "I hope we don't end up hiring so many and then having to fire them ." But now I'm thinking, what if we formed this team, say, at the beginning of 2025? What would be different then? That's why sometimes it's important not to hesitate to say no to people, to certain roles, and I'd like to extend a special thank you to you as well.

For example, when we were expanding our development team, our plan was to hire one person, but we ended up adding two. That also depends on the quality of the people who come here . There, you were insistent, saying, "Let's buy it, let's buy it..." That's why it's really important. Truly amazing people and including the right people makes a huge difference. This was such a vital learning experience for me .

I still can't fill it up. Thank you very much. We actually took a pretty big risk there . So, let's say we had enough money to hire two or three people, we established something... something for two people, you know what I mean ? So, essentially, we made a decision that could completely jeopardize our cash flow, our cash flow, for the next month. But, you know, we noticed that last time too.

While repairing it with Mert. man, we've done so many things, I mean, so many things, like setting up Inouse, this runs from this server, we've done this and that, and so on. So, what you see is just the tip of the iceberg . Now, even the slightest malfunction, the smallest thing like that, could lead to major financial consequences. That's why you need to get something like that beforehand .

One of the positions I still most want to fill is... HR. Because, u.e., in all these recruitment processes, logically speaking, we've both started a company now. The two of us... we're bringing in new people. Logically, even if we were going to hire HR, we were the ones deciding that . And now, yes . It's actually that difficult. So you're just doing your normal job. And then you post an ad on the website.

This is how you post ads on Joind. You're writing the ads one by one. People are applying for the job postings. 2000, 3000 candidates. Well, you ca n't respond to each and every one of them. It breaks my heart. So you're eliminating the ones that could be positive. The following week, you schedule an interview with them with just one phone call. You are analyzing CVs. This is just one person for one position, you're spending two months on it .

And that's a tremendous amount of effort, and you're also doing the normal things you'd normally have to do in parallel . I mean, you know, you're doing investment meetings, sales, product development, marketing, etc. For example, if someone told me right now, if they told us right now, "You have this much budget..." So, first you'll form a team. What's the first thing you'll buy? I started directly in HR.

I completely agree. In fact, I think, you know how they're now calling it, instead of HR, something like people and culture and so on . So there are many points to consider. For example, you only brought the one that was the size of the hinge, man. Then you hired these people. Bombardment is a job. So before that, you also add up your social security contributions, benefits, Multinet account, and so on.

Exactly. So then, there's the performance aspect and all that. Thank God, we have Selin there, with whom we work together again. Selin was incredibly supportive of us throughout this ordeal. He'll probably get a shoutout from here too. no, I completely agree. So I think that, in our organizational chart, which is more like a master plan, talent, or HR, is at the top of the list of positions we want to fill in the next quarter .

And after that, actually, our plan right now is, well, the tailor can't mend his own clothes, for example, on the marketing side, most likely our plans are to involve a few people. Because... I don't know if we're former marketers or ex-marketers . Do we still count as marketers? But, while we might say, "We already know and do this kind of work," for example, we still do n't have a fully-fledged marketing manager at the top of the company.

This is for what we call founder-led marketing, etc. But even though we've seen how much each person who comes along contributes, it's very, very important to fill these roles and distribute these responsibilities . And finally, let me suggest something else. Oh, let me tell you something else. You know how you said a tailor can't mend his own torn clothes? Brother, it turns out it definitely doesn't work like that.

I think the most important thing we learned over these three years is this: if you're a tailor, that's it, your role here is now co-founder. Your role here is people management, motivation, inspiring others, making things sustainable, managing, leading, and so on. Anyway, if your profession was hairdressing, there wouldn't be this "Oh my God, cut people's hair so fast, I can't cut it as fast as I want" thing .

That's why, brother, leaving the job to the experts, that's why team culture is so valuable. So you can be as much of a marketing guru as you want, man. Your role here is different. Therefore, there's nothing wrong with bringing in a marketer who, under your leadership, will at least be as good as you, or even better . This is also important for development. Write as much beautiful code as you want, man.

And if even that person can't focus, then it doesn't matter at all anymore . When you try to write that code with half-focus, it ends up being no different from the code your intern wrote . You're already doing WIP coding. Exactly. Can we say... If you consider yourself a very good marketer, and you think you can take Hardal to new heights, then contact us, we're waiting. well, call 0532 from your mobile phone, folks.

Number by number below, or hey brother, how about we do something like this here? Oh, my cell phone is going out. They should write down my phone number. Exactly. Yes. We would even accept calls if it were a live broadcast. I understand, brother. Great idea. Shall we do this? Live broadcast. Hello. Yes. Where are you connecting from? And write "me" below it. so it's connected to the competition...

Company name and all that stuff. Or perhaps a viewer who preferred not to be named. Because it's a hing process. Hey bro, I want to say something, by the way, the idea of doing the hings live, like choosing live hiring... Very good. Very good. This is incredibly good, I think so too. Let's do this. You absolutely must do this. Beautiful. Beautiful. I liked that idea too. Then let's continue.

What else is there? Is that all ? Is that all the mistakes we've made? So you have another extra mistake, one more thing. There's a survival mode. If you'd like, we can talk about that briefly as well. After that, we can... wrap up this podcast and start filming the next one. Because let me tell you something . Didn't you say this was the last podcast of the year?

What will happen to him? The last podcast of the year. Yes. logically speaking, his last podcast. Yes. And we'll shoot it the same day. The same day, that is. The same day, brother. This is the only time we can get together. Yes. So, since we're already sitting here and have nothing else to do, let's take a picture, man. What will happen? Exactly. We'll change, man. Survival mode.

Let me mention it very briefly. Actually, the last company I worked for before this one was a Swedish company. What we saw there was something that we're very used to in Türkiye. Well, we grew up amidst many crises, and by growth I mean education, work life, etc., it was constantly about surviving the day, surviving tomorrow, and that's how decision-making mechanisms work. There's nothing wrong with that. So we're really grappling with a lot of crises, and that's why we're so good at crisis management.

But we can also make decisions based heavily on fear. Putting that aside, even if you want to save the day, I think those decisions shouldn't be too much about survival and fear . And I found myself doing that a lot throughout the year. Even when we're sitting together, for example, making a plan, a schedule, and suddenly a small crisis can become our top priority . Even if there isn't a crisis that big, we can drop everything and focus entirely on it.

That, too, stems from the desire to survive. So if this problem isn't solved, we can't survive. If this brand goes bankrupt, we cannot survive. Or, things like "if we can't close this lead, if this product catches fire," and so on, kept us constantly off-track. That's why I've noticed that whenever we step away from that , whenever we don't disrupt our plan within the daily workflow, we produce more added-value circuits and progress faster.

That's actually what I meant to some extent . I think it would be much more beneficial to step out of survival mode and proceed in a calmer, more planned, and more strategic manner . I think you handled the process there pretty well. Because at one point it was... So, we were in a situation where you were handling all the financial and business processes of the job. Now, let's say there's a problem with Product, and in your eyes it could look like this...

Brother, forget about all that for now, I'm worried about whether we'll even be able to produce the beer, look at all the things I'm dealing with . Or vice versa, meaning that a financial problem here didn't necessarily have to affect the product. This perspective is actually about... the survival mode being constantly active, so what's our runway, man? How many months do we have left, what happened? This is why people are constantly scrambling to find investment opportunities.

But it's a bit like breaking away from that, you could call it that entrepreneurial spirit, but I don't think it's exactly that either. I'm not talking about an entrepreneurial spirit that involves jumping from one thing to another, looking for an opportunity, like "Hey, there's this person over there, let me just grab a job right away ." I'm talking about that ability to not let your stress affect the task you need to do at that moment.

So, naturally, when that happens, I think, "Okay, we might have a month's worth of money left, but right now the issue we need to focus on is X, Y, Z, etc." This logic works very well. So I think when you're constantly in that " survivor mode" mindset, you just can't enjoy it . Yes. And then there's this other absurdity . For example, we never found ourselves in a situation where we didn't have enough money left for our monthly payments .

So we've always had a beautiful runway. Do you understand? Our concerns were always along the lines of, for example, we have a 10-month-old runway, but what if these things go wrong, what are we going to do? Hey, you... you were really fixated on that thing for a while . Oh no, it's just not there. And when İmamoğlu came in, the dollar went up. Yes. It will fluctuate like that, dollar by dollar, and so on.

Of course, you're getting into something incredible like, "Will it affect us?" and as you said, I think the critical point is that in that stressful moment, you think, "Okay, let me just tweak Hardal a little bit, at least let me close this deal," focusing on saving the day. By that, I mean being able to say no to the customer, being able to say " Hardal is doing this much," not being able to add new features, not adding them, even including people who would add value to the team earlier.

All of these are actually the opposite of that survivalistic mode. That's why this is one of the biggest pillars of my organization . So what you're saying, man, if I were to let someone in tomorrow, the first person I'd let in is the "people" you're talking about, that's essentially it. Because people HR does n't directly contribute to revenue. That 's why it's a role that's been pushed into the background.

But being able to say this, that you can take these actions even in shorter runways, already shows that you're not in that mood or that we're not in that mood, and it's an area you're constantly immersed in. Because, as I said, too many things are happening. So, suddenly, a brand can send you a completely unexpected email. There can be a disconnect in finance . A payment might be delayed.

But when you change your approach to these things, I think those problems start to seem less like big problems, and who knows what other problems we'll face. If you can put that stress aside and just continue with your normal work, I think you've learned something, it seems to me. absolutely. And do you remember one of the investments we made, besides stretching our budget completely and... well, besides the buyer's investment ?

It's a design thing, man. Yes. For example, again, I think that's also a sign of a very good mood, man. So you're thinking, " Okay, you've started a company, great, everything's ready." You have money, that's capital. Now you need to spend the capital in specific places. It's like chess, you spend money on things like hiring a salesperson, making a product, doing something else, and so on and so forth.

But we were in a place where we were incredibly focused on design, doing a 360-degree turn, a 180-degree turn. We invested in the Serbian budget design, that is, directly . Yes. This investment, by the way, is something we've invested effort in, whether it's financially, in terms of time, or in terms of our personal resources . So the design wasn't just about a logo design. Brother, we've prepared all the Figma design systems .

Here are the edited PDFs. The entire branding has changed. It was quite a process, and even though there were many fires like that, the fact that we were specifically dealing with these ones still showed a good trend, I think. Yes. Well, Doğanca deserves credit for that too . Well, he put in a serious effort there too. I'm very happy, for example. Well, sometimes things come up like that.

For example, even the colors of this podcast right now, even our logo on the side, and so on. I really like the systematic approach here, the fact that everything is more or less predictable, and so on . And what you said is absolutely true. So we put in this effort at a very inappropriate time. Back then, we had a lot of work to do, and there were n't any developers yet.

You dedicate a significant amount of time to product development. It was just Mert and all that, and we sat down and really, came up with design processes and stuff. Don't worry, we're eating. So, should one move to the right, one to the left, and so on, the things between the EPO type graphs, and so on, were explained to us naturally, like the area here and the white space, actually, the golden ratio and all that .

You know, people are complaining, emails are coming in, we live with these things, but there was a nice gap, I mean, if we hadn't dealt with this, all the digital assets we produced, all the processes related to the product, would have become obsolete. From where? For example, let's say we're going to have an investor meeting. We need the deck, we need the PDF, but we don't have any branding.

We're going to do something in Product. We'll do a demo, send emails, but there's no branding involved. For example, we're thinking of sending emails, but there's no branding involved. And since everything originated there, unfortunately, we had to deal with them during that fire . And as you said, right now we're making a living from it, those fires have been extinguished, and our customers are happier. Customer success is about establishing that communication very well.

It's still drying up, it's still forming. The product started to fit together very well, and so on. Yes. The UI and everything turned out really well. I'm very happy, for example. Yes, that's exactly why we're glad we put in the effort back then . Meanwhile, regarding decks, for example, I'm looking at our old decks. I'm looking at the new deck now. That's crazy. Brother, it's really, really different.

The offers were private, man, they had made offers to certain brands, among the first brands we made offers to. Damn, it's like some kind of Chinese brothel, you know, the table there and the pricing here. The colors, man, the colors are awful. So, you know, we 've given the pricing, the offer, and in a table it says, let's say, $100, and we've also added something else. There is one more painting.

It says, "If you buy this too, here's how much it will cost." Below it, it says "Alternative 3". Brother, there's a price in a PDF . Alternative 3. So, the point is, we've put everything in one place for this negotiation. Brother, we even negotiated for you . This is the negotiated price. That's unbelievable. Honestly, the ones now are really nice. I'll say we can send it if anyone wants it .

If anyone wants to, they can do this: subscribe. People are subscribing, by the way, did you know? I see it. We're doing great on YouTube. Yes. Yes. Honestly, it's great. Well said! Those were some very valuable lessons. I'm very excited for 2025 and 2026 . I'm extremely excited. What kind of year will it be? Honestly, an amazing year awaits us. With its ups and downs, there's not much bitterness, but I think we can blend our experiences and the hardships we've endured into a kind of bittersweet feeling.

Anything, anything can happen. We're human beings, after all, we're human beings, man. So, if we ignore this and can't suppress the feeling of satisfaction we get from the good things we do, then none of those good things will be good at all. We can experience that thing called slavery, that white-collar slavery, within ourselves. Apart from that, where we are now, starting from scratch, our goals, our objectives, our brands, our communication with brands, our products, everything is going as it is.

Well, there's obviously a point to be made. There was a similar expression the other day. I don't know how to translate this, but... well, actually, getting stressed about something you dreamed of in the past is a huge stroke of luck . That's a great achievement. So when we first started Hardal, I didn't know what I was going to do during the day. We didn't have much work to do, so we were just standing here .

It's like those guys sitting in empty shops; we realize how valuable our current stress actually is, because we used to dream about this kind of stress two years ago, wishing we could experience it again . We are experiencing it right now. We definitely need to be aware of that too . Therefore, thank you to everyone who contributed. Use Era, etc. Thank you all very much. Can we call this growing pains?

100%. Exactly. Very good. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Arrow. Let's see if we can be more organized. Super. Thank you everyone for listening to our podcast . And that's until the next podcast. We're going to change our t-shirts now and film the second podcast, but you won't notice. Even if you notice, nothing will happen. Because that's all we have. Okay, see you later.