Beyza Simsekoglu

Hello, I'm Beyza. I grew up design obsessed in a house with exactly one artist, my dad. By three I was sprawled on the floor drawing whatever was on Cartoon Network. By six, kindergarten gave me my first heartbreak. By ten, I was the only girl in my brother's friend group, parked in goal because nobody else wanted to be the goalkeeper.

I got into a university in Istanbul on a full scholarship I didn't really want, and cried about it for a week. Graduated top of my class without really trying, mostly because I'd already decided I was leaving. Three months later, at 22, I landed in San Francisco with three suitcases and a jar of Turkish olives.

First job: Popcorn, a fast delivery startup. Officially Category Manager; in practice, the kind of role that meant "do whatever's on fire today." First five employee. Watched it scale to 150 people and a $30M Series A, then watched it close. That one took a while to come out of. I'd loved it like a person.

So I built my own. LANS, a marketplace for coworking spaces, still live at lans.app. Raised $170K, hosted 30+ events with founders and investors across SF, hit 2,000+ App Store downloads in the first six months. Hard years. Cried plenty.

Then Cornell. This time one I'd applied for on purpose. Moved west coast to east. Spent a year that turned a school into my biggest family, graduated May 15, 2026.

Outside of all this: oil painting, piano, and long walks looking for the one good coffee in any new city.