In this episode of Venture Ahead, recorded at South Summit Brazil in Porto Alegre, IE Business School professor Joe Haslam sits down with Orkut Buyukkokten, creator of the pioneering social network Orkut.com, to explore the power of connection and the lessons learned from building a global online community.
Buyukkokten shares his journey from a multicultural childhood in Turkey, Germany and the US to becoming a Silicon Valley engineer at Google, where he developed Orkut as a side project that went on to capture the hearts of millions—especially in Brazil. He reflects on the challenges of scaling rapidly, navigating company politics and the cultural factors that shaped the platform’s success.
The conversation explores what makes communities thrive, the role of technology in fostering belonging and why social networks need their own identity separate from enterprise tools. Buyukkokten offers candid insights into innovation, resilience and the human need to connect.