Legal Collaboration for Global Growth

In conversation with Abdulhamit Çavdar

In an increasingly interconnected world, Trendyol’s international legal team is at the forefront of navigating complex regulatory landscapes, ensuring compliance and driving strategic expansion. From handling complicated cross-border transactions to managing diverse legal mandates, the team’s agility and expertise are instrumental in supporting growth into new regions, including the dynamic Gulf market. In this interview with Abdulhamit Çavdar, we explore the challenges, best practices and success stories of Trendyol’s legal experts.

Bruno: Hello Abdul! Could you please introduce yourself and tell us about your role at Trendyol?

Abdul: Hi Bruno! Let me start. I’m Abdul, born in Türkiye but living in Berlin for 35 years. I joined Trendyol in 2022 and since then I am supporting our international business teams with all different legal matters together with my team.

Bruno: What are the biggest challenges your team faces when dealing with international laws and regulations?

Abdul: The main challenge isn’t so much the regulations themselves, as many are becoming more harmonized globally, especially in data-driven industries. The real difficulty lies in understanding local nuances, identifying the right stakeholders, and avoiding common pitfalls. Achieving seamless integration and compliance across geographies requires continuous learning and adaptability.

Bruno: What are the best practices for managing a diverse legal team across geographies?

Abdul: At Trendyol, we value our values regardless of where our team members are located. This diversity enriches our perspectives and helps us better respond to local trends. Key practices include clear communication of goals, proactive information sharing, and a solution-oriented approach. This ensures that we stay in sync with our business streams and collaborate effectively across geographies.

Bruno: Can you share a case where agility was critical to the success of a project?

Abdul: In our expansion efforts, the core role of the legal team is to assess local legal requirements, help the teams prepare for the launch, and provide ongoing legal support after the successful integration of our business. For example, we once encountered conflicting information on a critical issue. If we hadn’t critically evaluated the information and acted quickly, it could have delayed our timeline and significantly impacted customer satisfaction. And customer perception is our reality at Trendyol.

Bruno: What tools and technologies do you use to effectively manage international legal projects?

Abdul: It may surprise you, but the G-sheet is actually one of my favorite tools. It helps me focus on the essentials when making assessments and decisions. In my previous jobs, we often worked with presentations and I would spend maybe 20% of my time on the content and 80% on the details of the slides. Obviously, this is an inefficient distribution of effort. Thanks to Trendyol’s G-sheet culture, we actually adhere well to the Pareto principle. In addition, AI tools like ChatGPT are invaluable, although it’s important to use them in a legally compliant manner.

Bruno: How is your team contributing to Trendyol’s expansion in the Gulf region and beyond?

Abdul: Successful expansion relies heavily on efficient and transparent collaboration. At Trendyol, we believe that “if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together”. Our legal team of experienced lawyers has supported and managed expansions for major corporations. We excel at the detail-oriented work, project management, and legal and data analysis that are critical to a smooth expansion process.

Bruno: Thanks for sharing your insights, Abdul! Before we close, do you have any insider tips for candidates who want to join Trendyol?

Abdul: At Trendyol we do not adhere to hierarchical rules and instead encourage a very intense culture of communication. So my tip for applicants is: Be yourself! Be proactive, be hungry and show us that you can quickly adapt to constantly changing projects, challenges and goals.

Excited to learn more about our international expansions and gain a sneak peek into #LifeatTrendyol? We have exciting positions opened in Riyadh and Dubai! Check out our Careers page for more details, follow us on LinkedIn to stay updated with the latest news and people stories, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for the behind-the-scenes actions.