10 Things You Didn't Know about Kağan Sümer

Are you familiar with Kağan Sümer, the CEO of German food delivery company Gorillas? Perhaps you’ve used the company before. On the other hand, maybe you’ve never heard of the company or its venerable CEO. Here are 10 things about him you may find interesting.

1. He’s extremely charismatic

Some people have a tendency to attract the attention of others, and he definitely falls into that category. Some people call it charisma, others call it magnetism. Whatever you might refer to this particular quality as, it is something that relatively few people possess. When they do, other people have a natural tendency to want to follow them. That is definitely the case with this particular individual, as he seems to be able to get people excited about virtually anything that he is excited about, all in the hopes of getting them to jump on board in order to support his newest project.

2. Some say he’s too young to be a CEO

At only 33 years of age, a lot of people believe that he is far too young to be a CEO. Granted, there have been other CEOs that have been in their early thirties, but they don't come around that often. More often than not, the most successful CEOs are people who have been in the business for decades. As such, they know what they're doing and they're able to get the job done quickly and efficiently. In this particular case, a lot of people worry that there isn't enough experience to go around in order to be able to accomplish the same basic goals.

3. He doesn’t have much experience

He doesn't really have a lot of experience, either. While this is not his first entrepreneurial endeavor, it is the first one that he has been involved with in this particular field. Everything else that he has been involved with in the past has ended up in failure. In reality, there have been a number of failed businesses in the past.

4. He has been accused of cutting corners to save money

A lot of people have brought his overall integrity into question, as he has frequently been accused of cutting corners in order to save money and grow the business more rapidly. This is why a lot of people have started asking whether or not he's interested in growing a safe and efficient business that can keep employees safe and deliver goods consistently, or if he's so interested in cutting corners that it will eventually come back to bite him.

5. Some say he tends to bite off more than he can chew

Speaking of biting, some also say that he tends to bite off more than he can chew. People point at his track record as an entrepreneur, where he has started a number of businesses, many of them seemingly successful. The thing is, he has a tendency to grow all of his businesses so rapidly that more often than not, he's unable to keep up with demands associated with that particular business and things start to fall apart.

6. He claims to have superior work ethic

As far as the entrepreneur himself is concerned, he claims that no one has a work ethic better than his own. As a matter of fact, he claims that his work ethic has always been better than both his employees and his competitors. According to him, that's why he's been successful where others haven't. However, his employees tell a different story, saying that he expects an enormous amount of work for low wages, few benefits (if any) and an environment that borders on a hostile work environment.

7. He says he more self-disciplined than everyone else

In addition to claiming that he has a superior work ethic, he also claims that he has more self-discipline than any other person he's ever met. Whether or not that statement is actually true is a matter of opinion. However, he's quick to point out that his business wouldn't be as successful as it is if it weren't for the fact that he is more self-disciplined than everyone else. As such, he claims that he is willing to work harder than everyone else in order to get what he wants.

8. He also says he’ll know when it’s time to shutter the doors

Despite the fact that he claims to have a superior work ethic and more self-discipline than everyone else around him, he also says that he will know when it's time to shutter the doors and move on to his next project. The thing is, he's already had several other entrepreneurial projects that he has decided to move on from. He says that it's because he enjoys starting new things and then selling those businesses off to someone else once they get to a certain point. People on the outside looking in say it's because he doesn't have the experience or the skills to stick with anything and keep it successful.

9. He doesn’t tend to manage risks well

Many experts say that the reason that so many of his previous businesses have failed is because he doesn't tend to manage risks well. Others say that he doesn't manage them at all. His current business has problems with technology, security, employee satisfaction and product supply, just to name a few. Furthermore, when anyone does speak out against anything that's going on inside the warehouse, he's quick to discount the claims, often saying that there is nothing to them and that the employee in question is simply too lazy to do the work.

10. He has become an HR manager’s nightmare

People that make a living in the Human Resources (HR) department of virtually any business will tell you that you just can't tell employees that they're not allowed to complain. Making a blanket statement like that borders on intimidation. It certainly doesn't foster open communication in any way, shape or form. As such, most HR managers agree that employees should steer clear of him.