At the young age of 27, Sinan Kanatsiz has effectively made his mark as an outstanding technology entrepreneur time and time again. In 1998, while studying for a dual Master’s degree at Chapman University, he instinctively followed his entrepreneurial spirit and formed his first company, Kanatsiz & Associates, a web development and Internet marketing consultancy. The company quickly evolved into Kanatsiz Communications (KCOMM), a full-service PR and marketing agency distinguished by its Internet expertise. In addition to directing the overall operations of the company and determining its long-term direction, Sinan also provides high-level strategic counsel to the KCOMM’s distinguished clientele.
In less than three years, Sinan has grown the agency exponentially, attaining several million dollars in revenue, opening three new business centers, and hiring over 10 employees. KCOMM has developed and orchestrated strategic campaigns for over 60 of the most prominent technology companies in Orange County, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley, ranging from innovative start-ups to New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq listed companies such as Sony and Toshiba. These efforts have made Sinan a two-time recipient of the PROTOS award, the highest honor bestowed by the Orange County chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). KCOMM won in the category of best business-to-business PR agency. The effectiveness of KCOMM’s Internet marketing strategies has become so widely recognized that the agency’s clients have now extended beyond the realm of technology to include Bill Jones, the Republican candidate for California governor.
After realizing extraordinary success with KCOMM, Sinan leveraged his Internet expertise into a second entrepreneurial endeavor, Newsblaster.com. The company aimed to revolutionize news distribution in the PR industry and remove barriers to market entry for small and medium-sized businesses. After raising funding from venture capitalists and angel investors, Sinan successfully launched the company and grew it into profitability before selling it to a subsidiary of Mitsubishi in early 2001.
As a consummate entrepreneur and philanthropist, Sinan takes his responsibilities to the community very seriously. In addition to mentoring high school and college students on his own time, he is often called upon to speak on entrepreneurism. Sinan is a noted authority on marketing, advertising and public relations as they relate to the Internet, and speaks nationally on these subjects. He has held engagements at several universities, including USC, Chapman University, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and La Verne College. Sinan recently was the keynote speaker at the Future Business Leaders of American (FBLA) National Conference in San Jose and will be the keynote speaker at the Business Marketing Association’s state conference in April 2002.
Sinan’s belief in the power of entrepreneurism led him to found SoCalLeaders.com – a non-profit organization that brings together young entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals. Through his organization, Sinan organized the first-ever Young Entrepreneurs’ Summit, which gave the nation’s youth the chance to interact with noted entrepreneurs such as Henry Samueli, founder and CEO of Broadcom, and Bob McKnight, founder of Quiksilver. Sinan’s efforts resulted in additional support for SoCalLeaders.com from the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization (YEO), FBLA, and George Argyros, U.S. Ambassador to Spain.
Sinan currently sits on the board of the Orange County chapter of PRSA and the Business Marketing Association. He holds a B.A. in Communications, with an emphasis in Computer Science and Public Relations, and a dual Master’s degree in Human Resources and Organizational Leadership, both from Chapman University. Sinan was designated Alumnus of the Year by Chapman University in the year 2000. To this day, he credits his accomplishments to his personal Four Pillars of Success: personal integrity; coaches and mentors; family; and education.
