What Did I Achieve in September?
September Rating (6/10) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. My entrepreneurial journey.
August 2025 was a 6-star month out of 10 for me. It was partly good, but mostly bad. Because...
It was a very promising month. For the first time in a long time, I said, “I’m happy”.
Don’t forget to read my stories below. Because now I’m writing the memories and thoughts I had that month in story form.
🎈 Become a Supporter
This journey is a long one. I am a bootstrapping solopreneur.
If you support me on Patreon, I share some details about my products that I don’t share with everyone else.
The Product I Want to Make After NotionPlusFor those who prefer not to support me on a monthly basis, you can make a one-time donation at minik.link/donate.
For those thinking bigger, I’m selling some of my products through UK/ExitLabs. You can purchase them there.
💝 Good News
My newsletter/blog, called Kurucu Notları (Founder Notes), has reached a total of 100 subscribers! 🥳
NotionPlus has been used a total of 1 million times! 🎉
🆕 What’s New?
I created a website where people can send anonymous messages to each other. This is actually the GirişimKur observatory. In other words, I’m observing the project, and if it has potential, I’ll turn it into a product. In short, the project is under observation.
If you want to send me an anonymous message, you can write to me at peopL.me/ugur2nd.
It’s an alternative to Tellonym and NGL. However, while children can join those platforms, they cannot join peopL.me. Only adults can use it. This way, it can raise awareness about bullying, which affects 1% of the world’s population. That’s the vision.
Please sign up for peopL.me and try it out. You can also give feedback about the product there. I regularly share updates every Tuesday on my Instagram account.
Months ago, someone suggested that I turn my Founder Notes newsletter into a podcast using NotebookLM.
I’ve only just gotten around to doing it. The podcast is in Turkish, but anyone who wants to listen can follow it on Spotify.
Since I’ve started to like the idea of making a podcast with NotebookLM, I’m also thinking about making one for MicroSaaS.Art. I wanted to write about MSA by doing a live stream, but that didn’t happen either due to hardware limitations.
I’ve updated my personal website (https://ugurkilci.com). It’s in Turkish and English. I might translate it into other languages soon. I’ve tried translating it before, but this time it will be a bit different.
I also updated my startup studio, GirişimKur. I haven’t translated it into English yet. Just like Jon Yongfook, the founder of BannerBear, whose main job is ZooSaaS, my main job is GirişimKur.
📐 R&D Works
I couldn’t achieve activity on the ProductivityList account I tried a month ago. So I had to stop it. I think automation is essential to be a one-person team. 🤷♂️
I tried a 24/7 live streaming video experiment on YouTube. I downloaded a 5-hour YouTube video from my own channel. I put them on a loop. But it was lagging a lot due to hardware limitations. I canceled it because I couldn’t achieve the desired performance.
However, I saw that it could be possible. 👌
💸 Products for Sale
You know I’ve sold some of my ventures. I’m reinvesting the money I’ve earned back into products. And there’s one more thing, but I’ll tell you about that in the story at the bottom.
See UK Exit Labs.
If you would like to purchase any of my products, please email me at exit@ugurkilci.com. We can discuss it.
🔁 Updates of My Products
➕ NotionPlus.dev:
NotionPlus has been used a total of 1 million times.
A total of 18,350 widgets have been created.
This was achieved by 7,870 members.
📕 MicroSaaS.Art:
I haven’t had a chance to write anything. But I’m thinking of turning the articles into a podcast.
🎃 Secret AI Product:
I never had time.
🎛 R&D Project:
I started a project 195 days ago. That project started getting 630 clicks per month.
Four days ago, I moved to the second phase of the project. I added a membership system, and people can share their progress there.
As of now, I have one member. 😂 It’s not me, but this person logs into the site every day. That’s a good sign.
📝 Contents
My Blog Posts
I never had time.
✒ Founder Notes (Kurucu Notları)
The articles are in Turkish, but you can translate them into your native language using a translation tool.
📜 Stories from the Life of Ugur KILCI
Why did I switch from 😈 to 💎?
For a long time, I’ve been referred to in different ways. Some called me a YouTuber. Some called me an inventor. But when I discovered that I could be known however I chose to express myself, I began to express myself in different ways on my journey of self-discovery.
🧛♂️ For a while, I used the Dracula emoji. Because when you put an emoji next to your name, you break the first impression people have of you. They immediately label you as you want them to. For a while, I was Dracula. Because I was mysterious. I still am, but I don’t emphasize that side of me. 😅
At one point, I became a smiling devil 😈. Not a frowning one, but a smiling one! Meaning I have a plan. And I’m moving forward with that plan. Even if you don’t notice it, you somehow sense what I’m capable of.
But today I am 28 years old. The smiling devil emoji now seems childish and doesn’t give me the respect I seek. This emoji is starting to attract the attention of undesirable people in today’s world.
These unwanted people are those who believe videos that make bad behavior look cool with trendy music are real. I don’t want to be a cool kid anymore. I want to be a gentleman now.
I want to become someone who can make more accurate decisions, who thinks and acts maturely, who is disciplined and has the freedom to say no. Refined in everything from dress to speech. Actually, I’ve always been like that. For years, I was like the character in my mind, but people are influenced by different periods.
Such of my most important mottos in college was to get a girlfriend. 🤦♂️ I succeeded in that. At the time, I had to behave in a certain way. But today, I realize that continuing those behaviors won’t get me anywhere.
Another reason for this was realizing that I couldn’t express myself well. People didn’t know what I was doing or what I wanted to do. They were judging me based on a snapshot of my life.
To solve this, I needed to polish my personal brand a bit.
I immediately updated my personal website. I changed the emoji. My website was in English, but my native language is Turkish. I sensed that I would attract attention from Turkey. So I translated it into Turkish.
I updated the design of my startup studio and did all of this on all of my social media accounts.
I realized I needed to work on the sentences I would use to introduce myself. I had already stopped saying “Hi, I’m Uğur, I’m an entrepreneur” and started saying “I’m a serial entrepreneur.” But now I say:
“Hi, I’m Uğur. I’m a serial entrepreneur. I have a startup studio called GirişimKur.” 🤯😬
😒 I Purchased LinkedIn Premium
I wanted to try it for two weeks. I tried it, and I’m actually going to cancel this month. ‘:) Because I didn’t see much effect. As a premium member, of course. Still, I noticed that I have an audience on LinkedIn.
If I automate content for LinkedIn, meaning if I stockpile articles and such, maybe then I can produce content.
What’s a bit annoying is that I created a LinkedIn newsletter for Kurucu Notları (Founder Notes). I scheduled it to automatically post when the time came. It’s sharing everything, but it’s sharing from my own profile. So it’s not being shared in the newsletter. 🤦♂️ That bothers me.
🥶 The Interview Process Before Starting Work
I had received a job offer. Everything was going very well. We had plenty of interviews this month. However, the knowledge I had wasn’t useful. My field gradually narrowed and became something I didn’t want. 🤷♂️
The reason I accepted the job was to work as a growth manager. This would allow me to develop my marketing skills and give me the opportunity to try new things.
But now I’m in a software developer position. 🤨 I already know software; I wanted to develop myself creatively. That’s why I was enthusiastic about this offer. That’s why I turned down many software jobs.
I don’t want to be a software developer. I want to be an entrepreneur, which I already am. Working in software wasn’t advancing my career. In fact, it was holding me back. 😒
How can working in software hold you back in entrepreneurship? 🤔 I know you’re thinking that. Look, I know PHP. But my workplace wants me to learn NextJS. The JS culture and the PHP culture are different things. Everyone should be able to do what they want in the language they want, but you’re overlooking the abstract aspects.
There’s something called a learning curve. 📈 It’s a painful and time-consuming process. I don’t have the time. If it won’t benefit me, then it shouldn’t happen. I want to become a globally influential entrepreneur in my field.
I don’t want to achieve this at 70! Everyone knows that. I need to build on my knowledge. Starting from scratch every time won’t get me anywhere! 🙅♂️
While still struggling with the interview, I shared my NextJS learning journey in video form on YouTube. Some comments have been received. Then I received anonymous messages via peopL.me.
Despite everything, I keep getting the same reaction from everyone. They say it won’t work with PHP. But YOU’RE WRONG! It totally works. I’m proof of that! I could give you other examples, but you’re turning a deaf ear! 🙉
You’re just being fanatical about the technology you use. You’ve become slaves to pop culture. Everyone is bashing someone else. You’re being manipulated, but you’re not even aware of it. 🐑
Ten years ago, when I was writing PHP, people were bashing it and saying it was no good. Then they started bashing JavaScript for PHP. Now they’re bashing frameworks and artificial intelligence for PHP.
Face it. PHP is a total badboy! 🐰 As we move forward, you keep talking nonsense. You’re slaves to pop culture, blind to what’s right in front of your eyes. 🙈
(Deep note: These words are not directed at the person who offered me the job! They are for those who sent me comments and anonymous messages. Even the fanatics.)
My words are for those who do this nonsense. Not for others.
Some people are comparing PHP and JS on the client side. Are you guys stupid?
PHP is a server-side language. You’re comparing it to the client-side version of JS. It’s like trying to race a fish and a lion in a marathon. But fish don’t have legs! 🤦♂️
Someone else is praising Python and saying you can build applications and websites with it. You can’t build applications with PHP. 🤯 The guy is comparing an application language with a website language. 🤯🤦♂️
What you’re doing is the Dunning-Kruger effect, bro! Snap out of it and get a grip.
I even made a video about this, but you still don’t get it. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE LANGUAGE!
Not PHP!
Not JS!
Not Python!
Not NextJS!
This is an entrepreneurship, son! Solve the problem however you can. If you want, go solve it with Assembly. The user doesn’t care what technology it is! Do you understand? Burn this scene from the Jobs movie into your mind!
What does this scene in the movie say?
“The average person doesn’t want to deal with circuit boards. They want to take the device, plug it in, and turn it on.”
So the user doesn’t care if it’s PHP! They don’t care if it’s NextJS! They just want to open the product and use it. It’s that simple!
You’re living in an illusion! Wake up! Because while you’re competing, others are living better lives. HELLLLLOOO! You’re wasting your own life. Friends, you’re killing yourself!
My words are for entrepreneurs. But I still don’t think I’m being understood. So it’s worth repeating. 🤷♂️
My point isn’t to convince entrepreneurs who know software to use PHP! I’ll say it again. I don’t care whether you use PHP or not! I’m not a PHP fanatic. Use whatever you want. I don’t care. I look at the result you produce. I look at the product you create.
If you look at my work, you’ll see that I don’t use pure PHP. I use JavaScript, jQuery, TailwindCSS, CSS, JSON, XML, Figma, ChatGPT, Claude, and many other things.
And what do you see in the name of this newsletter? The journey of a software developer or the journey of an entrepreneur? 🤔 😶
Friends, I am not a software developer! I am an entrepreneur who knows software! I have always been an entrepreneur. I will always be an entrepreneur. If something is not useful for my work outside of entrepreneurship, why would I do it!?
I won’t do it, and I don’t do it!
I know only one thing: making a great product!
Not writing code like poetry!
Not creating perfect designs!
Not using the latest and greatest.
Good products! Only good products!
🍕 To make a good pizza, you process the egg, flour, oil, tomatoes, and cheese in specific quantities and through specific steps. You can’t make a pizza that tastes the same using just tomatoes and oil! ❌
I’m not a tomato seller. I’m a chef! 👨🍳 Understand that already! I create delicious dishes by blending the right ingredients in the right proportions. In other words, I build delicious products. I will always strive to make better products.
Period!
💞 Happy End
Some things are really exhausting. I shouldn’t have to deal with them. My sole focus should be on building.
While writing this, I felt like Nintendo. While everyone else was making high-end consoles, Nintendo focused on making fun games for cheap, low-end consoles. When someone acts silly, Super Mario Bros. comes to mind.
Thank you for being by my side throughout this process. You can share your thoughts in the comments or send them to me privately at hi@ugurkilci.com.
With that, I hope everything goes as planned this month. See you next month! 🙋♂️