SocialWire offers companies a dual tool to harness the power of personal product recommendations. With SocialWire Connect, online companies can allow customers to easily share their activity—including purchases, wish lists, and personalized reviews. Afterward, the companies can make those posts rise above the social noise with SocialWire Amp.

By mixing the value of personal recommendations with a full suite of targeted advertising, SocialWire has quickly risen in the increasingly crowded space of social ads.

The Turkish-origin company, which held its official launch last month, recently attracted $2 million in seed capital from the likes of First Round Capital and Dave McClure of 500 Startups, and has been profiled on TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and other tech outlets. It is now based in northern California.

Amid these successes, Selcuk found time to share his journey with infoDev’s Roberto Pena on a Google Hangout. In the talk, he discussed how early visibility and validation can be vital for fledgling companies, and he underscored the value of selfless collaboration and passion in Silicon Valley and other leading tech hubs.