Man Bakes Baklava For 12 Hours While AI Billionaires Rent Fort Knox
KEY POINTS
- •Tolgay Karabulut started his San Francisco baklava bakery, BaklavaStory, in 2022 using $300,000 borrowed from friends.
- •He works 12-hour days, baking fresh baklava every 20 minutes in a 100-square-foot kitchen staffed by seven people.
- •Despite hard work and $40,000 yearly income, he struggles with skyrocketing rent amid the city's AI boom and shares a rent-controlled apartment.
Tolgay Karabulut, 43, the Turkish-born baklava kingpin of San Francisco's tiny 100 sq ft kitchen, wakes up at 5:40 a.m. to make one miracle dessert—baklava—freshly baked every 20 minutes since 2022. Armed with $300,000 of borrowed cash and handpicked pistachios from Turkey, Karabulut battles sky-high AI boom rents while his paycheck limps home at $40,000 yearly. With no closet but 20 T-shirts packed in drawers and a roommate guarding the sacred closet fortress, he fuels a seven-person team on Costco frozen pizzas costing $20 per meal. Meanwhile, AI contract folks swim in $200K+ salaries like gold-encrusted cyborgs. The hustle is real, the sweetness eternal, but the struggle is, ironically, not sweet enough.
Share the Story
(1 of 3)Nothing says ‘American Dream’ like slaving 12 hours making one pastry while AI bros drop $200K contracts and buy San Fran’s air for rent.
Baking baklava at 5:40 a.m. for peanuts while San Francisco’s AI elites treat rent like pocket change. Patreon, please.
He’s got $300K invested, 20 T-shirts, and zero closet space—living proof that if your startup isn’t AI, rent hates you.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 9/4/2026 | Author: Aditi Bharade
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