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Ahmet Orhon

Ahmet Orhon

Ahmet Orhon Entrepreneur, Strategy & Management Consultant, Founder, and CEO of Avane

Ahmet Orhon
Ahmet Orhon's Biography

Ahmet Orhon was born in Ankara in 1987. He graduated with honors from Bilkent University, Faculty of Business Administration. He started his career at McKinsey & Company, a management and strategy consulting firm, in 2009. After spending three years at McKinsey, mainly in Turkey, China and Australia, Orhon was accepted to the Harvard Business School (HBS) - Master of Business Administration (MBA) program in 2012 and graduated from the program with high honors in 2014. During his time here, he took roles as the President of HBS Public Speaking and Negotiation Club and HBS International Student Representative. After two years at Harvard, Orhon returned to McKinsey and transferred to the Dubai office. During his six years there, Orhon focused his practice on the private sector and family-owned businesses, leading McKinsey's work in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region in Retail and Consumer, Mobility and Automotive. During this period, Orhon provided training on leadership, communication and project management both within McKinsey and for its clients, focusing on restructuring of family businesses and senior executive orientations and training. In early 2020, Orhon left McKinsey as an Associate Partner, returned to Turkey after 10 years abroad and founded Avane Cloud Kitchens, his first cloud kitchen investment. Avane Cloud Kitchens received $1 million from Global Founders Capital in the first round and was accompanied by TwoZero Ventures, Logo Ventures, Q Angels and distinguished angel investors in the 2nd investment round led by Finberg, in which Avane Cloud Kitchens received $3.1 million investment. Orhon aims to expand the brands within Avane Cloud Kitchens with restaurants in Turkey and the UK, while expanding the concept of cloud kitchen in the food and beverage industry. Besides that, he provides consultancy and training services to Fortune 500 companies. Under the consultancy firm Speaker Agency, he gives speeches about his areas of expertise to the employees of corporate companies. Ahmet Orhon regularly shares about sports and sports economics in podcasts and videocasts called "Para Konuşur'' on Socrates Magazine Podcasts. Ahmet Orhon is the creator of the interactive comedy concept "SAF Komedi" and plays a leading role in the staging of the concept. Orhon taught Strategy and Leadership at Bilkent University, Faculty of Business Administration. He served as an Advisory Board Member at the same university. Orhon has traveled to 112 countries and participated as a speaker in more than 30 organizations, including one TEDx. He produced the independent feature film Dona Dona, which was released in 2022.

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Ahmet Orhon Speaker Solutions

SPEAKER TOPICS
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Ahmet Orhon Speech Titles
Legacy by Design: Institutionalizing the Future of Family Businesses

Drawing on years of experience advising royal families and major family-owned conglomerates across the GCC, Ahmet Orhon delivers a compelling perspective on the long-term sustainability challenges facing family businesses. Based on his work with entities such as the Saudi, Emirati, and Qatari royal families, Orhon highlights a critical statistic: over 90% of family-owned businesses fail to survive beyond the third generation. This session addresses the systemic causes behind this generational decline and offers strategic insights into how business families can design structures that ensure continuity, professional governance, and long-term profitability.

Ahmet shares first-hand lessons from helping legacy-driven organizations future-proof their operations — from rationalizing portfolios and phasing out obsolete verticals to preparing the next generation for emerging industries. This talk is particularly valuable for founders, board members, and next-gen leaders seeking to institutionalize their business while preserving entrepreneurial agility. If you are looking to turn your family enterprise into a future-ready, resilient organization, this conversation offers a transformative roadmap.


Innovation & Entrepreneurship

With a background in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Harvard and hands-on experience leading global projects at McKinsey, Ahmet Orhon brings both strategic and operational depth to the topic. Drawing from his own entrepreneurial journey—founding a high-growth foodtech startup in Turkey—Ahmet emphasizes a powerful insight: while ideas may spark innovation, it is execution that drives impact. In fact, he asserts that 80% of innovation and entrepreneurial success stems from effective implementation rather than ideation.

Through mentoring startups, government agencies, and multinational corporations, Ahmet helps organizations build innovation-driven cultures and scale entrepreneurial initiatives that are both agile and sustainable. This talk offers actionable frameworks for turning ideas into outcomes, fostering intrapreneurship, and navigating the unseen variables that shape new ventures. Ideal for corporate leaders, founders, and ecosystem builders, this session equips you with the tools to future-proof your organization through innovation.


Strategy, Leadership and Transformation

Drawing on over a decade of experience at McKinsey, Ahmet Orhon breaks down the real equation behind strategic success: only 20% lies in the brilliance of the idea—80% comes from execution. This critical insight reframes strategy not as a plan on paper, but as a living process powered by effective implementation. Yet execution doesn’t happen in a vacuum—it requires strong, adaptive leadership at every level of the organization.

In this talk, Ahmet explores how leadership is evolving in response to a new generation's expectations and an increasingly volatile business environment. He delves into how to lead transformation efforts, empower emerging leaders, and hardwire agility into the organization. By interlinking strategy, leadership, and change management, this session offers a practical framework for organizations looking to thrive in a reality where transformation is not a phase—but a constant.

Ahmet Orhon
Ahmet Orhon's Biography

Ahmet Orhon was born in Ankara in 1987. He graduated with honors from Bilkent University, Faculty of Business Administration. He started his career at McKinsey & Company, a management and strategy consulting firm, in 2009.

After spending three years at McKinsey, mainly in Turkey, China and Australia, Orhon was accepted to the Harvard Business School (HBS) - Master of Business Administration (MBA) program in 2012 and graduated from the program with high honors in 2014. During his time here, he took roles as the President of HBS Public Speaking and Negotiation Club and HBS International Student Representative.

After two years at Harvard, Orhon returned to McKinsey and transferred to the Dubai office. During his six years there, Orhon focused his practice on the private sector and family-owned businesses, leading McKinsey's work in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region in Retail and Consumer, Mobility and Automotive. During this period, Orhon provided training on leadership, communication and project management both within McKinsey and for its clients, focusing on restructuring of family businesses and senior executive orientations and training.

In early 2020, Orhon left McKinsey as an Associate Partner, returned to Turkey after 10 years abroad and founded Avane Cloud Kitchens, his first cloud kitchen investment. Avane Cloud Kitchens received $1 million from Global Founders Capital in the first round and was accompanied by TwoZero Ventures, Logo Ventures, Q Angels and distinguished angel investors in the 2nd investment round led by Finberg, in which Avane Cloud Kitchens received $3.1 million investment.

Orhon aims to expand the brands within Avane Cloud Kitchens with restaurants in Turkey and the UK, while expanding the concept of cloud kitchen in the food and beverage industry. Besides that, he provides consultancy and training services to Fortune 500 companies. Under the consultancy firm Speaker Agency, he gives speeches about his areas of expertise to the employees of corporate companies. Ahmet Orhon regularly shares about sports and sports economics in podcasts and videocasts called "Para Konuşur'' on Socrates Magazine Podcasts.

Ahmet Orhon is the creator of the interactive comedy concept "SAF Komedi" and plays a leading role in the staging of the concept.

Orhon taught Strategy and Leadership at Bilkent University, Faculty of Business Administration. He served as an Advisory Board Member at the same university. Orhon has traveled to 112 countries and participated as a speaker in more than 30 organizations, including one TEDx. He produced the independent feature film Dona Dona, which was released in 2022.

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