That’s just a sneak peek at how determined he is when pursuing a goal.

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Since then, he鈥檚 gone on to invest at a hedge fund, work as a fellow at and , and obtained a Master of Business Administration from Stanford. Now he is the founder of , a startup putting digital advertisements atop ride-hailing vehicles.

For this edition of Proust Goes Tech, Gunay and I chatted over black tea (of which he has 20 cups of a day) and were only distracted twice: when two cars sporting Firefly displays passed by. During our conversation, he told me me about what it was like growing up in Turkey, a book so good he read it three times, and his issue with airports.

The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

What would you otherwise be doing right now?

If I weren鈥檛 the founder of Firefly, I would be trying to founder another company. I get exposed to [transportation] every day, so I think I would want to do something in transportation. Again. I think smart cities are definitely the future.

Your main fault?

My main fault is that I want to do a lot of things at the same time. So I鈥檓 working on prioritization a lot. I get very excited about different things, and then I try to jam everything into a short period of time. It just isn鈥檛 very efficient.

I haven鈥檛 been able to use any of the to-do list apps; I鈥檝e tried so many, but I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a good one. So I just email myself. But then I just get annoyed where there鈥檚 too many emails in my inbox.

The quality you most desire in a tweet?

The reason I鈥檓 using Twitter is more about consuming information and trying to see what new trends are and understand what people are thinking. The beauty of Silicon Valley is that it is a small place where a lot of very smart people are constantly thinking about new things, and you鈥檙e able to interact with it. Twitter takes it into a social media environment where you can get in touch with that.

Your idea of misery?

Not having a purpose and something to work for. I did not enjoy my previous job, there was no mission to work towards. I thought at the time that鈥檚 what working was. Now I see how much I actually enjoy doing stuff with people that truly enjoy it, too.

What do you appreciate the most in your friends?

Honesty. I appreciate it a lot. I mean, I don鈥檛 like people who think too highly of themselves. Or fake people.

Your chief characteristic?

I鈥檓 very determined. If I believe something, and it鈥檚 important to me, I will not stop doing it until I get it done. When I was 18 and living in Turkey, I liked windsurfing. So I wanted to try doing it semi-professionally. Within a year, I was able to compete at the World Windsurfing Championship. It was a cool time… and then I stopped [laughter].

And then I stopped. Haha.

What skill do you wish you possessed?

I would like to speak more languages, like Mandarin or Spanish. Right now I speak Turkish, German, and English.

Your most impactful book?

How to Win Friends And Influence People. I鈥檝e read it three times.

What defines success?

It鈥檚 happiness. If you鈥檙e happy with what you鈥檙e doing鈥攊f you鈥檙e happy in your life鈥擨 think that鈥檚 success. So just figuring out what will make you happy and work toward that success. And that鈥檚 in a personal capacity, not just professional.

When is confidence lost?

A lot of us are driven people and everybody wants to accomplish something. As there are roadblocks that come in front of you, there are things that do discourage you. I do lose confidence some days. I don鈥檛 feel supported. It happens to me. As all humans. It is more about鈥攊f you have a dream and something is threatening the dream, and there isn鈥檛 too much you can do about it, then confidence is lost.

Which buzzword is exhausted?

People talk a lot about network effect. And I don鈥檛 believe all network effects are created equal. When people see a small network effect that might not be very beneficial, they get super defensive.

What virtues do others have that you don鈥檛?

I grew up in Turkey; it鈥檚 a very different upbringing than what you would see in the U.S. So I have different levels of interaction with family.

What impact do you want to leave behind?

It鈥檚 about making the world a better place. If I can help increase hard working Americans money, that鈥檚 very important. And if I can also help cities better understand how they work and function, and optimize around it, that鈥檚 really important.

What鈥檚 the biggest problem tech is failing to solve?

Travel times. I mean, to this date, airplane travel times have been pretty consistently long and pretty bad. Imagine a Hyperloop world. If I could teleport that would be amazing. Technology is trying to do something, but I don鈥檛 think it is evolving as quickly as it should.

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Ed spoke to 附近上门 News last week, opening up about his inner thoughts, goals, fears, and judgements. He is a down to earth, no B.S. kind of guy who is both aware of his faults and grateful for his success. We enjoyed his candor and spirit as the latest founder in to participate in our Proust Goes Tech Series.

What would you otherwise be doing right now?

Most probably I鈥檇 be working. If it鈥檚 not pitching the media, it鈥檚 staring at one of the many cryptocurrency exchanges for reasons I can鈥檛 remember. Or reading twitter and tweeting endlessly, endlessly, endlessly until I just fall over from exhaustion. Just really healthy stuff all around, I find.

Your main fault?

It is honestly that I have trouble letting go. I have trouble letting people help me. It鈥檚 something I鈥檓 getting better at鈥擨 have a very good Chief of Staff. I work on this constant problem of just trying to run the whole company myself, never really handing off enough, never really forgetting about stuff, being emotionally held down when bad things happen. I鈥檓 more of a college quarterback than an NFL quarterback in that way.

I definitely would say I鈥檓 very emotional, which is good. That鈥檚 not really a fault, it just goes hand in hand with the problem of not really being particularly good at asking for help.

The quality you most desire in a tweet?

I don鈥檛 think theres any specific quality in a tweet that makes it good. Because a good tweet is a good tweet. It can be funny or it can be serious or what have you. But I would say number one is just stop stealing things from Tumblr. It鈥檚 just kind of sad. There鈥檚 this thirst with tweets.

Also, don鈥檛 be super generic. If I see another tweet with 鈥淭RUMP IS A MOTHER BITCHING IDIOT, YOU KNOW, UH, HE SHOULD BE PUT IN JAIL!鈥� Yeah, no one is happy with this situation right now; we get it. But no one is going to post their way out of the presidency. No one tweet is going to break Donald Trump.

But also when it comes to humor, I think that people take it all a bit too seriously. I say this after getting mad at someone for saying something on Twitter, but try to have a light heart with it. Also try not to be entirely generic or forced. I could go the rest of my life paying a monthly subscription to never read Aaron Levie鈥檚 tweets again for example.

Your idea of misery?

Having been there, true isolation. Isolation is the coldest death one can have without actually dying. 聽And when it comes to Silicon Valley that鈥檚 a very strange thing because you can be isolated when surrounded by people. I would argue that when it comes to Silicon Valley, in particular, people have this strange quasi allegiance with a bunch of people.

What do you appreciate the most in your friends?

Honesty and loyalty. I expect them to tell me when I鈥檝e messed up, but I don鈥檛 expect them to just leave me when it鈥檚 convenient. That鈥檚 why I have very close friends, and I only have a few of them. It takes a lot for me to build trust with people. I mean this goes both ways. Trust is very hard to gain and very easy to lose.

I admire my friends for being not just loyal to me, but also loyal to my best wishes and my best success, which means basically saying 鈥淓d you messed up鈥� or 鈥淓d you need do so something about this because otherwise things will go badly.鈥� That鈥檚 very hard to find in people because they鈥檙e usually either saccharine or what people think sarcasm means, but it鈥檚 actually just being rude.

Your chief characteristic?

Tenacity. It鈥檚 very hard for me to give up on things. I don鈥檛 let go for better or for worse. So I will stay on something until reasonably I have run out of mental or physical gas.

What skill do you wish you possessed?

I wish I could speak another language. I failed every single language I ever tried. I failed four languages in high school. Impressive amounts of failure I鈥檇 say.

Your most impactful book?聽

I can鈥檛 think of a book I鈥檝e read in business that鈥檚 actually good or an impactful, well-written, interesting book. I mean the last book I remember being 鈥渋mpacted鈥� by was by Michael Lewis. That was quite some time ago.

I mean, I鈥檝e read a lot of these startup books and they all have the same advice. They鈥檙e all trying to tell these magical stories about how wonderful and successful they鈥檝e been and the struggles they鈥檝e been through to get there.

I think the reason I keep coming back to Liar鈥檚 Poker (I鈥檝e read it about five times now, actually) is the whole junk bond payoff situation that happened is so applicable. Junk bond trading and the get rich quick keeps coming back [and] keeps replicating itself. Something cool starts, something that has value or was undervalued, people make money off of it, then people go deeper and deeper into darker corners of this money making thing. The obvious application is probably crypto. I mean it all started with these very interesting situations where people said, 鈥渂itcoin has value being a decentralized currency,鈥� but now people have gone even further saying, 鈥渂itcoin has value because of reasons.鈥�

What defines success?

In business, it鈥檚 profit without destroying other people or lying. I do not want to win on the broken backs of other people.

People love to focus on big businesses, and I see PR firms that don鈥檛 do as well as ours and they鈥檙e focused on growing a big team. I鈥檓 like, 鈥淲ait a minute, that doesn鈥檛 make sense. Why do you have more people? They鈥檙e not helping you.鈥�

In life I think it鈥檚 truly having a good life. Doing the things you want to do not at the cost of other people.

When is confidence lost?

I run on a deficit of confidence at all times. I am an anxious, depressed person at times. If it鈥檚 not a case of saying 鈥淚t鈥檒l be alright,鈥� it鈥檚 definitely a case of saying 鈥淚t probably won鈥檛 be as bad as the things I鈥檝e gone through before.鈥�

I think that is one major reason why I am still a success. I鈥檓 very happy; I have a child on the way, and I have a beautiful wife. It鈥檚 wonderful. But several years ago, I was not in a great place. Going through various things, undiagnosed ADHD, for example, definitely taught me to realize that things could be a lot worse. I鈥檓 not saying that everyone should suffer on some level, but I am suggesting to learn exactly where your life鈥檚 low point has been and move on from there. Understanding that and getting perspective on everything from that, I think is a good way to get confidence.

Even if I lose a bunch of clients, if I still have a company, if I can still afford to pay everyone, if I can still afford to pay myself, that is a good thing. That is a WIN. Knowing how lucky I am is something that gives me confidence.

I realize this is answering the 鈥渨hen do I lose confidence question?鈥� with how I have confidence. The final thing I鈥檒l say is confidence is lost when I forget how lucky I am. That鈥檚 probably the cleanest way of answering that.

Which buzzword is exhausted?

Hmm. Where to start? Well, let鈥檚 load up PR Daily. I鈥檓 sure they鈥檒l have, like, eight.

I鈥檓 going to go with my industry. 鈥淧R professional.鈥� I think it鈥檚 a buzzword, and I think its a bloody stupid term. It suggests that there are 鈥淧R unprofessionals鈥� or that PR people need to be reminded that they鈥檙e professional somehow. They need to be given a special badge. If you ever want the actual example of the millennial 鈥減articipation trophy鈥� it is the term 鈥淧R professional.鈥�

Ask any journalist, and I don鈥檛 think they鈥檒l describe most PR people in their emails as 鈥減rofessionals鈥� unless it鈥檚 like 鈥減rofessional bug with a million legs that eats dust.鈥� Basically all PR people are professional dust-eating bugs with a million legs. Except for me and my company. That is the official statement.

What virtues do others have that you don鈥檛?

Patience. And this is a cheesy, cliche thing to say. But with ADHD one of the biggest problems, even medicated, is patience. It is tough. And I鈥檝e found this talking to other people who have ADHD. It鈥檚 about the concept of time. So it鈥檚 tough to stay patient, and it鈥檚 tough to be patient. You want things to happen way faster than they do. And when they don鈥檛, it鈥檚 a frustrating annoying situation for you.

What impact do you want to leave behind?

A happy family.

I also want to leave a mark on the PR industry, even if it鈥檚 a bruise. Even if there鈥檚 one person out there who improves because of me.

I鈥檝e written two on this. I find the state of the industry sickening. I want to see people not form-pitch anymore. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檒l be the one who stops it. I hope I am, but probably not realistically. But I want to stop these 鈥渄ust eating bugs鈥� from spamming so much.

What鈥檚 the biggest problem tech is failing to solve?

There鈥檚 a few, but I think tech is generally failing to solve real people problems. I feel that there is this focus on technological advancement vs. technological enhancement. Realistically tech could do a lot more for the regular person.

People usually respond to this with saying 鈥渨ell it isn鈥檛 necessarily a good business to help everyone.鈥� This is not only disgusting; it鈥檚 also completely stupid. Snapchat burns money constantly, and they鈥檙e not helping many people at all.

There is this very big focus on these, at best, middle class鈥攑robably more like upper middle class鈥攑roblems. I don鈥檛 think tech, in general, cares that much. You see a lot of this 鈥渟ocial good.鈥� I just don鈥檛 see them as doing good.

Perhaps we鈥檙e in the froth we used to be in. Perhaps we鈥檙e not in a situation where it鈥檚 like bitcoin for dogs, or it鈥檚 entirely focused on really stupid stuff. But we are still in the zone where companies that are profitable aren鈥檛 really getting funded. We鈥檙e obsessed with these really inherently stupid things, like Elon Musk鈥檚 fake flame thrower that鈥檚 actually a blow torch.

I also believe this is an issue where people are saying that it鈥檚 a binary thing. They say you can only help completely by being a nonprofit, or you can only be a for-profit company making as much money as possible from the richest people you can find. I think there has to be a middle ground.

Also creating things that approach more than just California and New York, or frankly, approach more than just San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. How about East Oakland or the poorest parts of San Leandro? Or going out to Central Valley where there鈥檚 Tracy, Patterson, and Modesto? There鈥檚 an issue where people say the 鈥淏ay Area鈥� and they just mean San Francisco, and that鈥檚 gross on its own. It鈥檚 taking the identity away from the area.

It鈥檚 also the people in the states that the people in Silicon Valley roll their eyes at: Pennsylvania, Montana, Michigan.

I realize I鈥檓 going all over the place, but the point is Silicon Valley still rolls it鈥檚 eyes at the problems of other areas and still prioritizes the most interesting press worthy product over those that will actually change most of the world.

Editorial Note: Answers edited for brevity and clarity.

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