A Way to Read a Startup Ecosystem

Welcome to the First Edition of Signals & Systems

This is the beginning of a space where I share explorations in information design, decision intelligence, and strategic sensing not only for business, but also for designing a more authentic, intentional life.

This edition is about something that began with curiosity. A static list sparked a question. That question led to a network map, then the map opened up a new way of seeing.

A list is flat. But ecosystems move in 3D.

When Fast Company Türkiye released its 100 Startups list, I was excited to see the spotlight on bold new ventures. But I also felt the limits of the format.

A list gives names. It gives numbers. But it doesn’t show:

• Who connects with whom
• Where capital is clustering
• What kind of ecosystem logic is at play

That’s why I created the Türkiye’s 100 Startups & Investors Network Map using open databases like Crunchbase , CB Insights , and local sources, visualised with the incredible Graph Commons platform. This isn’t just a graphic. It’s a relational landscape that invites you to explore the relationships, patterns, and pathways shaping Türkiye’s startup scene.

Türkiye’s 100 Startups & Investors Network Map

So… What can this map help you do?

This isn’t just for data scientists or policy wonks. This is for anyone navigating innovation, growth, or uncertainty. Here’s how different people can use this map:

🚀 If you’re a startup founder:

• See where you sit in the ecosystem, who’s near, who’s distant
• Identify investors backing others in your space
• Discover hidden clusters or emerging partnership routes

💰 If you’re an investor:

• Understand where your capital flows with others,
• Detect co-investment patterns and over-concentrated verticals,
• Spot startups that act as bridges between different domains.

🧭 If you’re a policymaker or ecosystem builder:

• Reveal geographic or thematic funding gaps,
• See where innovation is concentrated and where it’s still emerging,
• Design programs based on real system structure, not just headlines.

🎯 If you’re a designer, researcher, or strategist:

• Use this as a diagnostic tool, conversation starter, or facilitation artefact,
• Practice network thinking to go beyond user journeys and business canvases,
• Ask better questions about how change happens in your domain.

This map isn’t the answer. It’s a new way of asking better questions.

Why does this work matter, and what comes next?

This map is a prototype. It may contain gaps. It’s imperfect. But it’s real. And it's a glimpse of what I believe the future of strategic intelligence looks like. I’m currently building a new kind of decision-making engine, one that helps people make smarter choices by seeing the bigger picture, understanding how individual metrics work, and how everything connects. Soon, systems like this will go from research experiments to everyday tools — and I hope to play a role in that transition.

Open for feedback and new collaborations

If you explore the map and have ideas, reflections, or even corrections, I’d love to hear from you.

If you’re working on a complex challenge and want to bring network thinking, ecosystem mapping, or strategic facilitation into your process — I’m open to building something together.

Thanks for being here for the first edition of Signals & Systems. Let’s keep asking better questions and designing wiser systems. Subscribe to Signals & Systems for reflections, research, and resources on strategy, networks, and designing for complexity in work and life.

Stay with metta,

Serhat