How Emre Fadıllıoğlu Co-Founder And CEO Of App Samurai Raised $4.6M To Build An AI-Powered Secure Mobile Growth Platform?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu is co-founder and CEO of App Samurai, went on to graduate with a degree in Business Administration from METU, and had an Executive Leadership degree from UC Berkeley. He later pursued finance, sales, and business development roles at PwC, Enerjisa, and Oracle. Before App Samurai, he also co-founded Netvent (2013), a digital marketing agency that still operates today, and Growth Tower (2015), a mobile market agency, which gave way to App Samurai, which is listed in Europe’s Top 100 Hottest Startups list by Wired magazine in 2018.

App Samurai is a self-service mobile advertising tool for high-growth companies. Mobile ad planning, execution, and analysis are complicated for high-growth companies because they cannot reach all available app marketing tools. App Samurai makes it easy for them without requiring in-depth mobile advertising knowledge! You can easily create, manage, and measure your ad campaigns with App Samurai to acquire qualified users for your app!

In an exclusive interview with AsiaTechDaily, Emre says:

Founders do not need to postpone celebrations to big success events. Besides, enjoying the journey is crucial. I always keep reminding myself that I am in a marathon, not in a sprint.

I always enjoy writing, but if I had a chance to go 10 years ago, I would focus on writing every day, personal or professional, it doesn’t matter. I believe writing is a creative process that helps you to face the inner you.

Regarding my career, I am happy with the experience I got during my years in PwC and Oracle, but if I had a chance to go 10 years ago, I would focus on getting a job in a startup. Working in a startup environment is crucial to building the necessary skills for future challenges.

Read on to know more about Emre Fadıllıoğlu and his journey.

Please tell me about your personal background and what are you working on currently?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: I am CEO & Co-Founder of App Samurai, a mobile technology startup listed in Europe’s Top 100 Hottest Startups list by Wired magazine in 2018. Before App Samurai, I co-founded Netvent (2013), a digital marketing agency that still operates today, and Growth Tower (2015), a mobile marketing agency, which led us to App Samurai we know today. I previously worked in finance, sales, and business development roles at PwC, Inta Spaceturk, Enerjisa, and Oracle. My educational background includes a degree in Business Administration from METU and an Executive Leadership degree from UC Berkeley. Right now, I am focused on scaling AppSamurai with an amazing team of talented people.

What motivated you to get started with your company?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: I love Phil Libin’s quote about startups. He said, “There are many bad reasons to start a company or work for a startup. But there’s only one good, legitimate reason, and I think you know what it is: it’s to change the world!”

I am so proud of changing the world with such a talented group. I love this journey, and this is my main motivation. Each hour we spend, each line of code we write, each call we attend, each customer we make happy, each step we take helps us democratize the everchanging marketing ecosystem.

What is your current main product, and (If there is any) can you share any product pivot story from founding to the current product?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: AppSamurai is a product company that engineers the best technological solutions for the everchanging marketing ecosystem. App Samurai helps mobile applications and games to acquire, engage, and retain users with a portfolio of products. We have a user acquisition platform powered by AI, a real-time mobile fraud solution, and a mobile app platform that improves in-app engagement. Dedicated to being the best place to impact the brightest minds around the globe, we aim to build an iconic company.

As AppSamurai Group, we have three main products for now;

App Samurai

A self-serve advertising platform, launched in 2016, the platform has integrated with more than 200 ad networks and supports over 10,000 advertisers from over 100 countries.

Interceptd

A mobile advertising fraud prevention solution. It blocks fraudulent traffic and fraudulent publishers in real-time and includes the industry’s first eROAS (estimated Return On Ad Spend) calculator. Interceptd uses a combination of AI-powered and deterministic ad fraud alarms that leverage data from the impression level down to the in-app level. In Q4 2019, Interceptd blocked over $10 million in fraudulent traffic, based on an analysis of more than 5 billion ad clicks and over 38 million in-app events. With mobile ad spend forecast to be worth over $165 billion in 2019*, Interceptd is a critical solution in the fight against mobile advertising, install, and attribution fraud.

Storyly

The latest App Samurai in-app advertising solution, launched in January 2020, aims to solve the challenge of driving in-app engagement and revenue by leveraging the familiar concept of stories. App publishers and developers can boost content consumption, increase session times, and enhance the customer journey by employing real-time analytics to curate, track and deploy bite-sized stories. Storyly is a solution, especially for mobile apps’ retention problems, which can create compelling experiences, cross-selling opportunities, monetize user-generated content, and personalization.

How much money (funding) have you raised in total so far? When was the recent funding round?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: We have successfully closed an investment of $2.4 million in Series A funding at the beginning of this year. Led by 212 Ventures and co-invested by Collective Spark, 500 Startups, and Degerhan Usluel, the raise takes our total investment to-date to $4.6 million.

How have you attracted users and grown your company from the start? And Which were your marketing strategies to grow your business?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: Inbound marketing became our main strategy as a technology company that creates specific products for marketeers. But our main customer base also became sticky and created a WOM thanks to our team’s excellent effort to make better our products, which are always in a beta mood for us.

Which is the best marketing tool for the growth of your startup, and why?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: Creating an excellent customer experience is our mantra, so CRM tools are an important asset for our job. And we also use SEO tools to reach the right customers who are already trying to find solutions for their business problems, which can be solved via our products.

What do most startups get wrong about marketing in general?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: Focusing on products can’t allow us to develop them. As startups, our main concern must be finding solutions agilely via our products, which haven’t been solved yet by big technology companies. So the source for understanding these problems comprehensively is the customer himself. That’s why we should set a great deal of customer-centricity and always-on communication with our customers for feedback at first hand for our always open to improvement products.

What were the internal decision processes in determining when to begin fundraising, and what were the logistics for this? And how many investors have you met so far, and how did you meet these investors, and which channels worked best for you?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: Fundraising is a full-time job for a startup CEO. It is challenging, and it takes too much time. We are always capital-efficient, and we started to look for fundraising once we felt that App Samurai is ready to scale.

During the Series A fundraising process, I have met more than 100 investors. The process itself helped us understand who we want to partner with, and we got valuable feedback from top-tier investors worldwide.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced and obstacles in the process of fundraising? If you had to start over, what would you do differently? (Your insight or advice on this would be very helpful for startups)

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: The biggest challenge was managing business and fundraising at the same time. The most important thing during this process is time management. I would manage my time and deadlines more efficiently if I had to start over this process. Besides, the fundraising process is more like a sales process instead of a financial process. So I build a CRM, I took notes, and I hope it will help me build and manage the next round.

What are your milestones for the next round? And what are your goals for the future?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: Pandemic changed the startup scene, and we need to face it. Closing 2020 with hitting our goals is the number one priority. Based on the year-end result, we will consider the team and investors for the next round.

How do you plan to expand globally?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: Our expansion strategy is very simple. We identify the segments and locations based on our data for demand patterns and grow the team with the best people for each particular location and segment. This strategy relies heavily on working with the brightest minds. This has always been at the core of our DNA since day zero.

What are the most common mistakes companies make with global marketing?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: I think most of the founders are taking advice from investors or mentors like magic pills. Each product and each company is different; founders need to find tailored-made strategies for their startups.

What are the most common mistakes founders make when they start a company? (or What should all first-time startup founders know before they start their business?)

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: Most of the founders are falling into the trap of loving the idea or problem. Especially the early stage is the best time to talk with potential customers and pivot your product if necessary. On the other hand, culture is the key element for success for a startup, and founders need to build culture. You cannot delay building a great culture in the future.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? And What advice do you have for someone who is interested in doing similar things like yours or in a similar direction?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: The best advice was about finding happiness in small achievements. Founders do not need to postpone celebrations to big success events. Besides, enjoying the journey is crucial. I always keep reminding myself that I am in a marathon, not in a sprint.

What are the one or two things that you would do differently to improve your life (or what kind of personal habits would you improved?) if you could go back to 10 years ago?

Emre Fadıllıoğlu: I always enjoy writing, but if I had a chance to go 10 years ago, I would focus on writing every day, personal or professional, it doesn’t matter. I believe writing is a creative process that helps you to face the inner you.

Regarding my career, I am happy with the experience I got during my years in PwC and Oracle, but if I had a chance to go 10 years ago, I would focus on getting a job in a startup. Working in a startup environment is crucial to building the necessary skills for future challenges.

You can follow Emre Fadıllıoğlu here.

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