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Growing Exponentially After Product-Market Fit: Who to Hire First, Spend Vs Grow, and How You Lead Before You Scale
You’ve done the hard part: built the MVP, tested it, found signs of product-market fit. Maybe your early customers love it, you’ve got...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Sep 228 min read


The First Five Minutes Rule: Why Day One Sets the Tone for Years
Eight years later, she still remembered the message. It was 2016, and I was preparing to welcome a new hire to our team at Google. She...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Sep 87 min read


The Great Corporate Exodus: Why Senior Executives Are Trading Corner Offices for Kitchen Tables
Inside the accelerating trend of C-suite leaders becoming entrepreneurs—and what it means for the future of work At 2:47 PM on a Tuesday,...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Aug 257 min read


The Red that Made Billions: What McDonald's Color Psychology Teaches Leaders About the Science of Influence
How a simple color choice became one of the most powerful influence experiments in business history—and what Robert Cialdini's research...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Aug 189 min read


What Money Can't Buy
Why the most successful leaders I coach never mention salary first Last weekend, I found myself at a dinner table with six accomplished...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Aug 115 min read


Where to Find Great Talent
(And Why You Might Be Looking in the Wrong Places) Whether you're a founder building from the ground up or a corporate executive scaling...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Aug 44 min read


Leading on Low Battery: Why It Doesn’t Work
I have been working with a brilliant CRO of a fast-scaling tech company for the last 2 years. Sharp as a tack. Big vision. Hired well....

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Jul 214 min read


The Questions Executive Coaches Ask (That You Can Ask Yourself)
Last week, I was having drinks with a friend who's spent 20+ years climbing the ladder at the same company - a global giant with great...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Jul 216 min read


When Anxiety Isn’t the Problem —But the Signal
I coach high-performing leaders. People who’ve built companies, managed global teams, survived reorgs, scaled revenue, raised kids,...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Jun 304 min read


How to Be More Decisive Without Being a Jerk
Most people think there are only two types of decision-makers: → The bulldozers  who steamroll everyone in their path → And the  wishy...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Jun 304 min read


Will AI Take Over Our Jobs? What the Rise of AI Means for Senior Leaders and Middle Managers
You’ve seen the headlines. You’ve heard the hallway whispers. And if you’re a senior leader or middle manager, you’ve probably asked...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
May 265 min read


How to Use Storytelling to Lead, Inspire, and Win in Business
In one of the most iconic storytelling examples from Mad Men , Don Draper faces a tough task: Sell a slide projector from Kodak — the...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Apr 264 min read


Scaling Your Business Without Losing Soul
What if success didn’t have to look loud? There’s a particular brand of business success we’ve all been conditioned to admire: 📈...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Apr 214 min read


The Skills Shortage Is Real—Here’s How Smart Companies Are Responding
Many of the leaders I coach are facing the same challenge: their workforce isn’t keeping up with the pace of change. The skills that were...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Mar 165 min read


What's in a Name? Reflections on Diversity, Inclusion, and the World We Live In
I grew up in a monocultural environment. Most of my friends were Turkish, from a similar middle-class background, and I attended Turkish...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Mar 27 min read


Spaciousness: The Leadership Superpower We've Forgotten
At the start of 2025, I set an intention that might seem counterintuitive in our hyper-connected, hyper-busy world: to feel more spacious...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Jan 314 min read


Best of 2024: Growth, Achievements, and Learnings
2024 has been a year of remarkable growth, thoughtful reflection, and lessons that will shape the years ahead. It’s been a journey of...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Dec 30, 20246 min read


Painting Your Path: Year-End Reflections and Strategies to Color a Brighter 2025
As we approach the end of the year, it’s natural to pause and take stock. Among my community of coachees, leaders, and professionals (and...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Dec 22, 20246 min read


What Irish Dance Is Teaching My Daughter (and Me) About Leadership, Life, and Resilience
When my 7-year-old daughter decided to try Irish dance a few years ago, neither my husband nor I had any idea what we were signing up...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Nov 25, 20244 min read


The AI Buzz and Leadership: Augmentation, Not Automation
"You’re better than ChatGPT," she said. "And ChatGPT is pretty good." Last week, during a mock interview session, a coachee threw this...

Merve Kagitci Hokamp
Nov 18, 20244 min read
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