Choose your seat in the ecosystem
Four brands on one honest method. Each seat leads to advice written for the role you are in.
FoundersFoundersStraight feedback on the pitch, the numbers and the decisions behind them.
AngelsAngelsRead a deal the way an operator would, starting with what the deck leaves out.
CorporatesCorporatesAn outside view of your innovation work and the startups you plan to back.
ProgrammesProgrammesAccelerators and ecosystems shaped around the founders inside them.
One honest method, four seats
The Brutally Honest is the umbrella brand behind four programmes giving startup founders, angel investors, corporate innovators and accelerators direct, unvarnished guidance. It is run from Helsinki by Ozan Sonmez and Alperen Zeki Gokmen, and every seat leads to a site written for the role you are in.
- 15+Years mentoring
- 5,000+Startups mentored
- 250+Accelerated
- 13Invested in
- 25+Countries
Where we have worked
A sample of the startups we mentored, the programmes we run, mentor and teach in, and the cities our mentors work from.
Startups we mentored
- Türkiye 6
- United Kingdom 2
- Finland 2
- Austria 2
- Germany
- Romania
- Georgia
- Ukraine
- Lithuania
Where we run, mentor and teach
- Europe
- Türkiye
- Middle East
- Asia
- North America
Where our mentors are
- United States
- Saudi Arabia
- Türkiye
- Finland
- Estonia
- United Kingdom
- Netherlands
- Thailand
Europe
- EIT Culture & CreativityMentors for its Cohort I and II startups
- Slush, HelsinkiMentor and judge
- FiBAN, HelsinkiAngel member
- Pirate Summit, CologneMentor
- Siemens Startup SchoolCo-led since 2022
- Growth Readiness Workshop, VilniusOur workshop for founders, September 2026
- Talent Garden, RomeOur Growth Readiness Workshop, 10 November 2026
Türkiye
- Founder Institute TürkiyeCo-directed by Ozan Sonmez and Alperen Zeki Gokmen since 2020
- Endeavor TürkiyeLead mentor and pitch coach
- AkbankAdvisor and lead mentor of its intrapreneurship programme, and mentors for Akbank Lab's startups (2023, 2024)
- Lonca Entrepreneurship Center and Kuveyt TürkPitch training for the startups they take to Slush
- UNDP SDG Impact AcceleratorLead programme designer
- Ford OtosanAdvisor
Middle East
- KAUST, Saudi ArabiaHead of its New Ventures Accelerator
- LEAP, RiyadhMC of the Investor & Founder Stage, 2026
- MIT Enterprise ForumHelped form its Pre-Accelerator Bootcamp in MENA, and trained 1,000+ startups across the Middle East over five years
- 500 StartupsMentor in its Middle East programmes
Africa
- Africa's Business HeroesAI and automation workshops
- Open Startup InternationalThe Science Road: 30+ founders mentored online, October 2026
Asia
- Pitch to Thailand at SlushSelection committee
- 500 Startups, MalaysiaMentor
North America
- UC BerkeleyGlobal Ambassador of SCET, and EMEA Director of the Innovation Acceleration Group
- Stanford CPD and Global Innovation CatalystCertified trainer, delivering Idea to Market internationally
- Silicon ValleyAbout 1,000 days as managing director of METU's investment arm, investing in 20+ Turkish founders
Our mentor network
Mark SearleCalifornia
Kaushal ChokshiMiami
Earl ColemanAtlanta
Adam BerkMichigan
Elizabeth SaundersUnited States
Amal DokhanRiyadh
Abdulrahman AljiffrySaudi Arabia
Arwa ShafiSaudi Arabia
Beliz Bediz SinanAnkara
Evre PestereliHelsinki
Sebastien ToupyEstonia
Rainer RatnikEstonia
Kutlu KazancıUnited Kingdom
Orfeuo LionorNetherlands
Joe SicoravitThailand
Read and listen
Each seat writes its own Shift on Substack and talks it through in its own Beacon on Spotify.
Follow us
Short clips, carousels and the occasional argument, on six channels.
Honest notes
Pick your seat and get the notes written for it. One e-mail every other week.