Saygin Yalcin

Saygin Yalcin

  • Executives
  • DOB:

    April 25, 1984

  • Age:

    40

  • Country:

    United Arab Emirates

  • Resides:

    Dubai

  • Hometown:

    Bremen, Germany

  • Known For:

    Founder and CEO of SellAnyCar.com

  • Religion:

    Christianity

  • Education:

    Monroe College

Summary

Updated

Saygin Yalcin is an entrepreneur and influencer best known as the founder and CEO of SellAnyCar.com, a car-buying and selling company that Entrepreneur Middle East named the “Fastest Growing Company in the Middle East.” Before founding SellAnyCar.com, Yalcin founded Joe Suis, a luxury handbag and jewelry company, and Sukar.com, an online private shopping club. Yalcin has also worked as an academic lecturer and a consultant.[1]  

Achievements

  • Founder and CEO of SellAnyCar.com
  • Named on Fortune Magazine’s 2014 “40 Under 40 in the Middle East” list
  • Has over 1 million YouTube followers

Related People

About Saygin Yalcin

Saygin Yalcin was born on April 25, 1984, in Bremen, Germany.[2] [3] [4] His parents were Turkish immigrants, and his father worked as a doctor while his mother worked as a lawyer.[5] Yalcin started playing soccer at four years old and dreamed of becoming a professional player.[6] 

Yalcin got his first job at age 14, selling supermarket catalogs door-to-door, and later worked at a supermarket chain counting inventory.[6]  

When Yalcin reached adulthood, he moved to New York City to learn English. While in the U.S., Yalcin worked as a D.J. to cover his expenses.[6] When he returned to Germany, he did a three-month internship at a hospital. He says, “I wanted to become an aesthetic plastic surgeon. It promised a lot of money and was glamourous.”[7] 

However, after the internship went poorly, he reconsidered his career path. He explains, “I remember one nurse at the hospital telling me that I would probably make the worst doctor in the world, but I’d be very good as a businessman.”[7] 

Education and Early Career

After deciding to pursue a business career, Yalcin began studying at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, an entrepreneurial school in Germany. While working toward his degree, Yalcin worked for several brands. He managed logistics for BMW, worked in marketing for L’Oréal, and later as a consultant with Capgemini.[1]  

In 2006, Yalcin briefly left Germany to study at ITAM, a business school in Mexico City, and Darla Moore School of Business in South Carolina. He then returned to WHU to finish his degree.[1]   

After graduating from WHU in 2008, Yalcin moved to Dubai in 2009 with no money. He started working at a restaurant for six months while developing a business plan and raising money for his first business venture.[8]   

He started two brands within the first year of being in Dubai–Suis GmbH, a luxury handbag and jewelry company, and Sukar.com, an online private shopping club.[1]   

Yalcin acted as founder and CEO at Joe Suis GmbH until 2011, when he sold the brand to Russian fashion retailer, KupiVIP.ru. He served as CEO and President of Sukar.com until selling the company in 2011 to Souq.com, the largest online retailer in the Middle East. After selling Sukar.com, Yalcin retained a stake in the company and remained a partner until 2017, when Amazon acquired the company.[1]   

SellAnyCar.com

In 2013, Yalcin started his most successful venture, an online car-buying and selling company called SellAnyCar.com. The idea for the company formed while he was trying to sell his car. He says, “I talked to nineteen people in six weeks, and I realized that this job is very annoying.”[9]

The company quickly took off. Yalcin explains, “SellAnyCar.com was a surprising success story from the first month onwards. Our first month’s revenue exceeded 470,000 euros.”[10]

Since its founding, SellAnyCar.com has been noticed by several publications for its success. Entrepreneur Magazine Middle East named it the “Fastest Growing Company in the Middle East,”​ and in 2014, Arabian Business Magazine called it the “Digital Business of the Year.” Yalcin is the CEO of the company.[1] [11] 

Other Ventures

Just before founding SellAnyCar.com, Yalcin took a position as a lecturer and advisory board member at the Canadian University of Dubai. He taught entrepreneurship, business intelligence, and e-commerce.[1]  

Yalcin has also become one of the top business influencers online.[12] He started creating online content after seeing a video from Mo Vlogs, a popular YouTube vlogger in the United Arab Emirates who attracts millions of views per video.[6] Yalcin noticed he could lower marketing costs by participating in influencer marketing. He has since gained a following of 1.1 million Instagram followers and 1.04 million YouTube subscribers. [13] [14] 

He explained why an online presence is an essential part of his career, saying, “I don’t believe solely in ‘PR 1.0’ anymore. It’s still a good foundation, but social media influencer marketing is so important today, and a lot of CEOs are sleeping on this. They don’t understand it, or they’re not from that generation, or they’re afraid of it. I saw the opportunity to get a reach that we could not have by any other means. I wanted to give our company a face that people could trust.”[15]

Yalcin’s online content often focuses on business advice and leadership principles. He explains his leadership philosophy to his online followers, stating that every leader should have the following three characteristics: “The ability to share the credit, but take all of the blame. The ability to inspire and create other leaders. And they should be confident.”[7] 

In 2022, Yalcin published his first book, My Children Will Be Born Rich. He also runs Start Up Heroes, an online entrepreneurship community, that offers online courses, consulting, and a forum for entrepreneurs.[16]   

Recognition

In 2011, Yalcin was named one of the United Arab Emirates Hot 100 Personalities. The following year, the publishing group ITP nominated Yalcin for the “Personality of the Year” in the United Arab Emirates. In 2013, the National recognized Yalcin’s online content creation, calling him the “region’s online business guru.” In 2014, Fortune Magazine named Yalcin to the “40 Under 40 in the Middle East” list.[1]  

Yalcin has also been recognized for his fitness accomplishments. After pledging to improve his fitness by working out daily, Men’s Health Magazine named Yalcin the 2018 “Men’s Health Star of the Year.”[17]  

Saygin Yalcin Today

Yalcin continues to act as CEO of SellAnyCar.com, while he invests in other young startups. In addition to his business ventures, he has stated his goal to help researchers find a cure for his sister’s rare condition, which causes epilepsy. He says, “I have dedicated my wealth to investments specializing in finding medical treatments.”[18]    

Though Yalcin does not share details about his net worth with the public, several publications estimate his net worth to be over $1 billion.[19] [20] He currently resides in Dubai, in an apartment inside the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.[21]  

References

Leaders Media has established sourcing guidelines that rely on credible, expert-level, and primary sources for articles about people and companies. Articles are frequently edited by staff writers. Learn more about our mission, editorial ethics, and how we source references in our editorial policy.

  1. Saygin Yalcin – Founder & CEO | LinkedIn. (2023). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/sayginyalcin/
  2. Saygin Yalcin – “Thank you for all the birthday wishes.” (2018). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://m.facebook.com/SayginYalcin/photos/thank-you-for-all-the-birthday-wishes-%EF%B8%8F/2158651640826717/ 
  3. Saygin Yalcin – Age, Family, Bio | Famous Birthdays . (2023). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/saygin-yalcin.html 
  4. Sayginyalcin – Stories. Instagram (2022). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17946960146096516/ 
  5. Saygin Yalcin » The only thing you will ever need to succeed. (2023). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from http://sayginyalcin.de/the-only-thing-you-will-ever-need-to-succeed/
  6. Uncut with S1. THE SECRET LIFE OF A BILLIONAIRE – EXCLUSIVE SAYGIN YALCIN INTERVIEW – UNCUT WITH S1 EP. 11. (2020). Retrieved 13 June https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7EssQSB_eM 
  7. Shambler, T. Pure ambition: Saygin Yalcin, CEO of SellAnyCar.com. (2016). Retrieved 13 June https://www.ceo-middleeast.com/ceo/business/pure-ambition-saygin-yalcin-ceo-of-sellanycar-com-643330-html 
  8. Khlaf, H. Like a duck takes to water, these men have taken to the business of influencing – Arabian Business. (2017). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/media/like-duck-takes-water-these-men-have-taken-the-business-of-influencing-679377 
  9. Soydan, B. Haftanın girişim öyküsü: Sellanycar.com ve Saygın Yalçın… (2015). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from http://turkishtimedergi.com/inovasyon/haftanin-girisim-oykusu-sellanycar-com-ve-saygin-yalcin/ 
  10. Sifael, G. Setting up a thriving e-commerce model, the Dubai way. (2023). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/12/28/setting-up-a-thriving-e-commerce-model-the-dubai-way 
  11. Saygin Yalcin » SellAnyCar.com wins “Digital Business of the Year” award!. (2014). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from http://sayginyalcin.de/sellanycar-com-wins-digital-business-of-the-year-award/ 
  12. Top 10 Business Influencers Who Can Help Grow Your Brand – GRIN – Influencer Marketing Software. (2019). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://grin.co/blog/top-business-influencers-who-help-grow-your-brand/ 
  13. Saygin Yalcin @sayginyalcin. Instagram. (2023). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://www.instagram.com/sayginyalcin/ 
  14. Saygin Yalcin – Youtube. (2023). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/c/sayginyalcin 
  15. Saygin Yalcin: Businessman? Or social media superstar? (2023). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://www.esquireme.com/brief/business/23510-saygin-yalcin-businessman-or-social-media-superstar 
  16. About Us | StartupHero.com. (2019). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://www.startuphero.com/about-us/ 
  17. Saygin Yalcin » From Fat to Men’s Health Cover Model. (2020). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from http://sayginyalcin.de/from-fat-to-mens-health-cover-model/ 
  18. Saygin Yalcin on Instagram: “My little sister suffers from a rare disorder which leads to a severe form of epilepsy…” (2020).  Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://www.instagram.com/p/CI70jUYHw5Y/?hl=en 
  19. Saygin Yalcin’s Net Worth (Updated 2023) – Gorilla Overview. (2023). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://gorillaoverview.com/saygin-yalcin-net-worth/ 
  20. Saygin Yalcin Net Worth $2.5 Billion. (2020). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://wealthmagnet.com/saygin-yalcin-net-worth/ 
  21. 10 Expensive Things Owned By Dubai Billionaire Saygin Yalcin. (2020). Retrieved 13 June 2023, from https://vocal.media/journal/10-expensive-things-owned-by-dubai-billionaire-saygin-yalcin

Any reader who wishes to provide any additions or revisions to this article, including updating any out-of-date information, please email [email protected].