Cutting Through Noise: A Tech Startup Journey with Bruin
In this episode of Tech Startup Stories, Natalie Binns speaks with Burak Karakan, co-founder and CEO of Bruin, about the realities of building a product shaped by frustration, persistence, and a deep understanding of data challenges inside modern organisations.
What emerges is a grounded reflection on how repeated failures, long-term partnerships, and a focus on real problems can lead to something that finally works.
Listen to the Podcast: Available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Building from a Real Problem
The idea for Bruin came from years of working with data and experiencing the same frustration repeatedly.
For Burak and his co-founder, the problem was clear: simple questions about business performance often took days, sometimes weeks, to answer. The process relied on multiple tools, engineering effort, and layers of complexity that slowed decision making. The initial goal was to solve that problem for themselves.
It started as an internal tool that evolved into something more when early users showed interest. A few customers were willing to pay, others were not, but the signal was enough, there was value, even if it was not fully defined yet .
Learning Through Repeated Failure
One of the defining aspects of this journey is the history behind it. Before Bruin, Burak and his co-founder had already built and failed multiple times together. Different products, different approaches, and different outcomes. What those experiences created was not immediate success, but resilience.
There is a clear recognition that building a company is not about avoiding failure, but learning how to move through it.
From Experiment to Commitment
The transition from experimentation to building a real company did not happen overnight. It was driven by small but meaningful signals. Customers willing to pay. Longer-term commitments, and growing sense that the product was solving something important.
One defining moment came with the first annual contract, this represented more than revenue, and it signalled trust. Customers were not just testing the product, they were relying on it, and that shift created a different level of responsibility and a clearer sense that this was no longer a side project, but a business worth committing to.
Rethinking How Products Are Built
A key lesson from the journey is a shift in mindset. Instead of building a product first and then searching for customers, the process was reversed. The focus moved towards identifying real problems that people were already experiencing and were willing to pay to solve.
This approach shaped both the product and the direction of the company. It created a closer alignment between what was being built and what the market actually needed.
Building in a Noisy AI Market
The current landscape presents its own challenges. AI is everywhere. New companies, new tools, and constant messaging make it difficult to stand out. For Bruin, differentiation is not based on noise or visibility, but on trust.
The product sits at the core of a company’s data infrastructure. If it fails, the impact is significant. This creates a different expectation. Reliability matters more than hype.
A Journey Still Evolving
What makes this conversation stand out is its honesty.
There is no attempt to present a perfect story. Instead, it reflects what building actually looks like. Iteration, uncertainty, small wins, and ongoing challenges.
Bruin continues to evolve, shaped by the same principles that started it. Solving real problems, learning through experience, and building with a long-term perspective.
And in many ways, that is what defines progress. Not a single breakthrough, but the decision to keep building, even when the path is not entirely clear.
Listen to the Podcast: Available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Listen to the full episode with Burak Karakan, from Bruin on Tech Startup Stories, hosted by Natalie Binns, and follow for more conversations that focus on the true realities of building a startup.