Startup Mentor Marketplace

Itır Özdiker

For more than 25 years, I have worked at the intersection of communications, growth strategy, market entry, and business development, helping startups and established companies launch, grow, and strengthen their market presence in Türkiye and international markets. Throughout my career, I have advised global technology companies including Cisco, Google, Deezer, Yandex, PayPal, Acer, HP, Skype, Kahoot, Thoughtworks, AirHelp, and many others on positioning, communications, market expansion, stakeholder engagement, and growth strategies. As the founder of GIS Consult and Axis & Co., I have supported startups, scale-ups, NGOs, and multinational companies through market entry, go-to-market planning, brand positioning, partnership development, and commercial growth initiatives. My experience spans both strategic planning and hands-on execution, allowing me to help founders bridge the gap between vision and implementation. Beyond consulting, I am also an entrepreneur. I built and continue to grow my own brands, including Mika for Earth, a sustainable consumer products brand, and Mühür Tılsım, a purpose-driven lifestyle brand. Building businesses with my own resources has given me first-hand experience with the realities founders face every day: validating ideas, managing limited budgets, navigating uncertainty, finding product-market fit, building brands from scratch, and learning through both successes and mistakes. I can help founders with: 1. Strategy & Market Entry — Go-to-market planning, brand positioning, market differentiation, and international expansion. 2. Growth & Execution — Turning ideas into actionable business plans, growth frameworks, and customer/market insight development. 3. Partnerships & Ecosystem — Business development strategy, stakeholder mapping, and building strategic alliances. 4. Fundraising & Investor Relations — Pitch deck development, investment storytelling, fundraising readiness, and investor communications. 5. Visibility & Communications — PR strategy, founder thought leadership, and sales/partnership presentation development. I am most valuable to founders who need an experienced strategic partner—someone who understands both corporate scale and startup realities, can challenge assumptions, identify opportunities, and help transform ambitious ideas into structured, executable growth plans.

Areas of expertise