How a Lost-in-Translation Moment in Istanbul Sparked the Creation of Mudirr

The idea for Mudirr did not begin with a pitch deck or a developer roadmap. It began on a cold evening in Istanbul, right outside the airport, where a new arrival tried to get into a taxi and explain a simple destination. He held his phone forward, opened one of the well known translation apps, typed the location and played the audio. The driver nodded confidently, smiled and began the trip.

It felt like everything was under control. Technology had done its job. Until it was time to pay.

A short ride turned into an overpriced one. A misunderstanding about distance became a misunderstanding about fare. The founder realised something painfully common in Türkiye’s busiest tourist hubs. You can have the best translation tools in your pocket, but if the communication is broken, you are vulnerable. Miscommunication is enough to make you feel lost, or worse, taken advantage of.

This moment was not unique. Many foreigners living in Türkiye share the same story. A taxi ride that costs more than it should. A rent negotiation that becomes confusing. A shopkeeper misunderstanding a simple question. Not because anyone intends harm, but because language is powerful. When you do not speak it, you rely on apps that were never designed for real conversations.

That night sparked the creation of Mudirr.

Instead of building another dictionary style translator, the goal was to build a tool that supports real communication. Something that handles fast back and forth, longer messages, mixed languages and the natural flow of human conversation. A tool for people who live abroad, study in a foreign country or work in multilingual environments every day.

Mudir focuses on two main experiences. LiveTalk enables real time voice translation so two people can speak naturally while the app translates in between. TypeTalk manages full chat conversations, translating messages instantly without making the user switch apps or copy text manually. It supports more than 100 languages and is built to help in the moments where clarity matters most.

Where competitors like Google Translate and Microsoft Translator focus on individual sentences, Mudirr focuses on the conversation itself. It preserves the flow, the tone and the context. It aims to prevent the small but costly misunderstandings that many foreigners face daily in Türkiye.

Mudir was not built to compete with the giants. It was built to fill a gap they overlooked. It is a simple, practical tool that helps people talk to each other without fear of being misunderstood.

Istanbul may surprise you, but at least the conversations will not.