# mertiseri.com — Full Content Index

> Comprehensive content file for AI agents. For a concise overview, see /llms.txt.

## Person: Mert Iseri

- Full name: Mert Iseri
- Role: Cofounder & CEO at 248.ai
- Location: Chicago, IL
- Education: Northwestern University
- Previous company: SwipeSense (acquired by SC Johnson)
- Book: "Exit Right" (co-authored with Mark Ackler)
- Teaching: Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management
- Chess.com username: alexandercalder
- Dog: Kısmet

### Life Journey (9 Stations)
1. Istanbul — Born and raised. Family business roots.
2. American Academy — High school in Turkey.
3. Northwestern University — Engineering, design thinking, and the start of everything.
4. Design for America & Jerry the Bear — Co-founding DFA. Early contributor to Jerry the Bear alongside Molina, Anna Chang, and Aaron Horowitz.
5. SwipeSense — Hand hygiene compliance for hospitals. Built, scaled, and sold.
6. SC Johnson Acquisition & Exit Right — Acquired by SC Johnson. Co-authored Exit Right with Mark Ackler.
7. Teaching — Northwestern undergrad and Kellogg MBA classes on entrepreneurship.
8. Minicorn Era — Sniffles, Hot Dogs, Easy Biz — rapid experiments in different markets.
9. 248.ai — Agentic GTM platform for enterprise sales. Current chapter.

---

## Section: Business (/business)

Mert has founded and cofounded multiple companies across healthcare, AI, and consumer products.

### Companies (/business/companies)
- 248.ai — Agentic GTM platform for enterprise sales (current)
- SwipeSense — Hand hygiene compliance for hospitals (acquired by SC Johnson)
- Design for America (DFA) — National network of design-thinking studios
- Sniffles, Hot Dogs, Easy Biz — Rapid experiments ("Minicorn Era")

### AI Thesis (/business/ai-thesis)
Mert's perspective on AI and its application to B2B sales automation.

### Investments (/business/investments)
Angel investment portfolio.

---

## Section: Teaching (/teaching)

Mert teaches entrepreneurship at two institutions:
- Northwestern University (/teaching/northwestern) — Undergraduate courses
- Kellogg School of Management (/teaching/kellogg) — MBA courses

### Teaching Frameworks (/teaching/frameworks)
Seven proprietary frameworks for teaching entrepreneurship:

1. **XYZ Framework** (/teaching/frameworks/xyz) — Core positioning framework
2. **Four Pillars of Value** (/teaching/frameworks/four-pillars) — Value creation model
3. **Four Floors of Product-Market Fit** (/teaching/frameworks/four-floors-pmf) — PMF progression model
4. **Seven Ts of Quitting** (/teaching/frameworks/seven-ts) — Framework for knowing when to quit
5. **Build vs. Sell** (/teaching/frameworks/build-vs-sell) — Resource allocation framework
6. **CAC as Product Development** (/teaching/frameworks/cac-product-dev) — Customer acquisition as product design
7. **FAIR Framework** (/teaching/frameworks/fair) — Decision-making framework

---

## Section: Writing (/writing)

### Essays (/writing/essays)
Long-form essays, some migrated from Medium:

1. **The Importance of d4 as White** — Chess opening strategy essay about the Queen's Pawn opening
   - Tags: chess, strategy
   - URL: /writing/essays/importance-of-d4

2. **The Importance of c5 as Black** — Chess defense strategy about the Sicilian Defense
   - Tags: chess, strategy
   - URL: /writing/essays/importance-of-c5

3. **Chess Principles in Life** — How chess principles apply to business and life decisions
   - Tags: chess, philosophy
   - URL: /writing/essays/chess-principles-in-life

### Video Transcripts (/writing/transcripts)
Transcripts from LinkedIn video content.

### Exit Right (/writing/exit-right)
Book chapters from "Exit Right," co-authored with Mark Ackler. A guide to navigating startup acquisitions and exits.

---

## Section: Play (/play)

Hobbies and creative pursuits:

- **Pottery & Ceramics** (/play/pottery) — Handmade pottery
- **Sculpting** (/play/sculpting) — Sculptural works
- **Chess** (/play/chess) — Active Chess.com player (username: alexandercalder)
  - Live stats: Blitz ~1939, Bullet ~1493, Rapid ~1719, Daily ~1479
  - Tactics: 2093 highest, Puzzle Rush: 38 best
  - 8,900+ games played
- **Bass Guitar** (/play/bass-guitar) — Bass guitar playing
- **Music** (/play/music) — Music listening and appreciation
- **Cooking** (/play/cooking) — Recipes and cooking
- **Card Magic** (/play/card-magic) — Card tricks and sleight of hand
- **Woodworking** (/play/woodworking) — Woodworking projects
- **Officiating Weddings** (/play/weddings) — Wedding officiant

---

## Section: Body (/body)

Physical activities and fitness:

- **Workouts** (/body/workouts) — Workout logs
- **Dance** (/body/dance) — Dance practice
- **Jiu-Jitsu** (/body/jiu-jitsu) — Brazilian jiu-jitsu training
- **Basketball** (/body/basketball) — Basketball
- **Snowboarding** (/body/snowboarding) — Snowboarding
- **Running** (/body/running) — Running and races

---

## Section: Library (/library)

Books read with ratings and notes:

| Title | Author | Rating | Year |
|-------|--------|--------|------|
| Zero to One | Peter Thiel | ★★★★★ | 2015 |
| The Hard Thing About Hard Things | Ben Horowitz | ★★★★★ | 2016 |
| Thinking, Fast and Slow | Daniel Kahneman | ★★★★☆ | 2017 |

---

## Section: Communities (/communities)

Memberships and organizational affiliations.

---

## Section: Tech (/tech)

GitHub projects and technical work.

---

## Section: Kısmet (/kismet)

Kısmet is Mert's dog. The name means "fate" or "destiny" in Turkish.

---

## Section: Events (/events)

Upcoming and past events with RSVP functionality.

### Current Events
- **Sample Event** — April 15, 2026, San Francisco, CA (RSVP open)

---

## Section: Contact (/contact)

Contact form with fields for name, email, and message. Submissions stored in Cloudflare D1 database.

---

## API Endpoints

- POST /api/contact — Submit contact form (name, email, message)
- POST /api/rsvp — Submit event RSVP (name, email, eventSlug)

---

## Content Schemas

### Essay Schema
```
title: string (required)
description: string (required)
pubDate: date (required)
updatedDate: date (optional)
tags: string[] (default: [])
source: "medium" | "original" | "linkedin" (default: "original")
sourceUrl: URL (optional)
draft: boolean (default: false)
```

### Book Schema
```
title: string (required)
author: string (required)
readDate: string (optional)
rating: 1-5 (optional)
notes: string (optional)
coverUrl: string (optional)
tags: string[] (default: [])
```

### Event Schema
```
title: string (required)
slug: string (required)
date: string (required)
location: string (required)
description: string (required)
rsvpOpen: boolean (default: false)
recap: string (optional)
past: boolean (default: false)
```

---

## Site Architecture

- Framework: Astro 5 (static site generator)
- Styling: Tailwind CSS v4 with System 7 Macintosh theme
- Font: ChicagoFLF (bitmap-style, public domain)
- Hosting: Cloudflare Pages
- Database: Cloudflare D1 (form submissions)
- Content: MDX files + JSON collections
- Design: Retro Macintosh System 7 desktop metaphor
- Navigation: Menu bar with File, Edit, View, Special, Help menus
- Each section renders as a "window" on the desktop
- Homepage displays 13 desktop icons representing each life section