I’ve always been someone with an interest in technology, product and growth. In high school, I was making Symbian themes for my Nokia 6670, collected all 251 Pokémons on Pokémon Silver using a Gameboy emulator, did virtual tuning designs – neon lights mostly – and moderated in one of the most popular forums at the time called Guduwap.com.
After majoring in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Bogazici University, the best state university in Turkey, I decided that my major was not fun for me and I needed a way out. A close friend of mine suggested that we could found a “fashion club” at our university, so we did that. We even started a blog and got to over 40k followers on Instagram – just doing things that don’t scale. We got to over 60 members in just one semester.
After college, I ended up joining Lidyana.com which was the top jewelry e-commerce website in Turkey at the time. Thanks to the flat organization of Lidyana.com and the trust of Hakan Bas in me, I discovered my passion for product during this time. I led the launch of the English website and the redesign of iOS and Android apps, and many more.
After 2 years, I left Lidyana.com to be one of the cofounders of Groop alongside Hakan Bas, Cem Kacmaz and Mehmet Uygun. We came up with a product that lets you live chat with a group of real people on a given topic. I was the one responsible for the product from ideation to over 300k downloads and over 10k concurrent users at peak times.
I joined cryptocurrency exchange Bitlo as a Product Manager in March 2018 before launch, and successfully launched the product. Cryptocurrencies were not performing well in mid-2018 so I decided to move to US.
After coming to US in October 2018, I joined Lone Wolf Technologies as a Product Manager. Lone Wolf Technologies provides listing, transaction, accounting and reporting solutions for real estate brokerages and agents. I have launched many exciting initiatives and new products in my time here, and currently responsible for the highest priority initiative of the company.
Over the 2020 summer, I had the joy of advising gaming platform Gamer Arena on product and strategy.
Favorite TV Series:
Altered Carbon, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Dark, Black Mirror, Game of Thrones, Making a Murderer, Punisher, Modern Family, La Casa de Papel, Rick & Morty, Rome, Sherlock, Silicon Valley, Stranger Things, The End of The ***** World, Death Note, Friends, Dexter, Breaking Bad, Lost, Misfits, Spartacus, The Office, The Mandalorian
Favorite Movies:
Coco; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; The Founder; Moana; Ex Machina; Amy; Whiplash; Edge of Tomorrow; Oldboy; The LEGO Movie; RUSH; Jagten; The Dark Knight; The Prestige; WALL·E; Jodaeiye Nader az Simin; Her; The Silence of The Lambs; The Time Traveler’s Wife; Life is Beautiful; Celda 211; Forrest Gump; Up; 500 Days of Summer; Click; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Favorite Musicians (Bold indicates that I have seen them live):
Calippo, CAZZETTE, Croatia Squad, David Guetta, Deorro, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, DJ Snake, Don Diablo, Eden Prince, EDX, Ephwurd, Felix Jaehn, Gorgon City, Jax Jones, Lika Morgan, Me & My Toothbrush, Mr. Belt & Wezol, Oliver Heldens, Platinum Doug, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Robin Schulz, Showtek, Skrillex, System Of A Down, Tchami, Tiësto, TroyBoi, Tujamo, ZHU, Zonderling
Favorite Turkish Musicians (Bold indicates that I have seen them live):
Ebru Gündeş, Levent Yüksel, Tarkan, Yaşar, Zeki Müren
Favorite Artists:
Piet Mondrian, Timmy Ham (SLOTH), Burhan Doğançay
Berk Özak 