Columbia University2015 - 2016
M.S. Sustainability Management · New York
Solar project development, smart cities, energy markets. Capstone: reducing milk waste in NYC with WWF.
about
the longer story.
Founder-operator and builder, energy systems engineer by training. Distributed energy, physical ops, and software, built from first principles.
I am an unapologetic hedonist with just enough narcissism to paint a giant mural of my own face in my living room, yet somehow still not too good to clean houses myself, every weekday, for six months, for my startup.
I have a relentless curiosity and often find inspiration in obscurity, like the fact that we invented four-wheeled luggage after we had already stepped on the moon. Frustration usually follows, though, because we fail to evolve the status quo alongside the invention, like keeping the vertical design even though it now creates significant instability.
I am equally baffled by things that make no sense at all. Like pedal trash cans next to toilets, placed as if your foot could reach the lever just after wiping your ass. Or pull door handles on push-to-open doors. Just a couple of examples in my list of crimes against humanity.
№ 01 · the record
2014Ormat let me publish proprietary well data my own government did not have.
2016WWF chose to implement the capstone my team voted down nine to zero.
2019Launched on Amazon UK and EU as a Class II medical device in three months, against a ten-to-sixteen-month norm. The founder called six months later to ask how.
2020Paused a six-figure SoHo lease on March 12. The city locked down eight days later.
2022Jason Calacanis broke two of his own rules, no solo founders and no service businesses, to write the first check.
2022The Techstars partner who rejected Bonjuur referred its first paying customer within 24 hours.
2026Re_Tera: 1,049 solo commits, first Swift commit to App Store approval in three weeks.
2026WattShed: zero to live in seven days, with a 257-test suite.
№ 02 · education
Istanbul Bilgi University2010 - 2014
B.S. Energy Systems Engineering · Istanbul
Thesis on geothermal power systems. Flew to the Stanford Geothermal Workshop to ask Ormat Technologies for their well data in person.
№ 03 · work
Bonjuur2022 - Present
Founder and Janitor · NY to LA
Timeshare subscription for a full-time housekeeper. Built a 180-person waitlist by cleaning houses myself for six months. First check from Jason Calacanis. Raised $90K, navigated the trough of sorrow, returned to energy.
Tulip Haus2020 - 2025
Co-Founder · New York
Artisan home decor from Turkey. Days from a NYC retail lease when COVID hit, pivoted to e-commerce. When a crane hit the first container in Spain and the marine insurer walked away on jurisdiction, I read the primary sources and recovered the damages from the port operator directly. B2C failed, survived via B2B.
SpiroHome2019
Business Developer · Ankara
Medical IoT. Oversaw FDA clearance and the Amazon UK and EU launch, coordinating hardware, regulatory, and commercial teams.
Istanbul Chamber of Industry2018 - 2019
Energy and Environment · Istanbul
Ran a program supplying industrial measurement devices to students for factory energy-efficiency analyses. Learned that bureaucracy takes a full year to launch a basic program.
NULARIS2016 - 2017
Energy Efficiency Engineer · Los Angeles
Audited buildings for the LADWP CLIP incentive program. Replaced half the lightbulbs at the Jonathan Club, a 30% electricity-bill drop after a two-day LED upgrade.
№ 04 · elsewhere
On Deck #ODF17 (2023) · All-In Summit Volunteer (2023) · Angel Squad, Hustle Fund (2021) · Camp Lightbulb nonprofit (2024 - Present)