Becoming Top 1%

"Becoming Top 1%" is not a theoretical business book — it is a practical guide drawn from Sahin Boydas's lived experience of building four startups, navigating two successful exits, and making 234 angel investments in companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. The book distills the patterns, habits, and mental models that separate the top performers from the rest.

The book covers the full entrepreneurial lifecycle: from identifying opportunities and building products to raising capital, scaling teams, and executing exits. Sahin draws on specific examples from his own companies — including RemoteTeam's 580-day path to acquisition by Gusto and Leo AR's journey to becoming Apple's App of the Day — to illustrate principles that readers can apply immediately.

What makes this book unique is Sahin's dual perspective as both a founder and an investor. Having sat on both sides of the table, he offers insights into what investors actually look for, how to structure deals, and the common mistakes that prevent talented founders from reaching their potential.

Beyond business strategy, the book explores the personal dimensions of high performance — the mindset shifts, daily habits, and resilience required to operate at the highest levels. Sahin is candid about the challenges he faced, including the isolation of entrepreneurship, the pressure of managing investor expectations, and the difficulty of maintaining work-life balance while building companies across multiple time zones.