The proudest moment of the year!
We are honored to be at the top of the ten Turkish Artificial Intelligence companies on the way to becoming unicorns in Forbes Türkiye's August issue!
Since our inception four years ago, we've been relentlessly striving for excellence and pushing boundaries, always working to take one step further. Being acknowledged by such a prestigious publication like Forbes is incredibly meaningful to us.
We're especially delighted by the words of Christian Magel, founder of Venture Lane | Startup Hub and one of our investors, in the interview:
"We had a very talented founding team, a product that solves companies' chronic problems, great marketing skills, and a service application for a private SaaS platform powered by LLM. It was a huge market opportunity. In just 12 months, Novus' strong growth justified the opportunity we saw.”
As we prepare to launch our new product, The DOT Product in the coming days, our vision remains clear: to become an AI platform used by companies worldwide within the next year.
However, Our CEO Egehan Asad and our CRO Vorga shared their excitement about this news, and even Vorga Can told us about his personal story.
A Personal Journey to Forbes
The relationship between our CRO Vorga Can and Forbes goes back a little further, and his story is incredibly inspiring.
Vorga describes his first years in business life as follows:
"Back in 2018, I landed an internship at Forbes Magazine. It was my first real paid job, and working for Forbes at 20 years old was a 'wow' feeling. I started writing there just to keep my skills sharp. My original plan was to become a diplomat. If you've ever applied, you know how tough those exams can be, filled with hard translations and essays."
In his first month, Vorga quickly got used to the team, including Nilgün Cavdar, Eyyüp Karagüllü, Handan Bayındır, Adil Uçar, and others. He recounted a memorable experience that shaped his career:
"One day, I was tasked with writing a horse racing article. People laughed, but I gave it my all, speaking to all the big shots from Urfa to İzmir. As an intern, I wasn't surprised when the article was credited to Eyyüp, who had helped me a lot. But at the end of the month, he did something amazing. He put my name on it instead. I nearly had a heart attack seeing my name on Forbes with my first real news story."
That moment changed everything for Vorga. His dream of becoming a diplomat was gone, replaced by a new goal: to become the best tabloid journalist ever. Even now, the incredible excitement in his eyes is evident when he talks about it.
After Forbes magazine left Turkey, Vorga worked for other organizations. Although some experiences were not the best, he learned valuable lessons from each one. He says:
"Bad people can hurt you. They can hurt you very badly. But with smart work and good help, you can leave them behind. I believed in this idea."
Reflecting on his journey, Vorga shared:
"A lot has happened since then. Today, I'm back in Forbes (as the news itself), and this time, I’m not alone. My partner in crime Rıza Egehan Asad and I made it. Thanks to İlkim Emirler’s great reporting and my awesome mentor Nilgün (who literally taught me how to write), they think we might become the next Turkish unicorn. My partner Egehan and I believe we are truly valuable and deserving of unicorn status. His confidence is vital, and I’m right there with him, driving our vision forward, pushing our message worldwide, and ensuring you guys know about our journey."
This was Vorga's own exciting story, and the whole team had a proud moment listening to it.
Catch the full interview with co-founders Vorga Can and Rıza Egehan Asad in Forbes Türkiye's August issue.
