About
I started as a developer, ran my own software company, led product and software development in a large enterprise, and now build my own products.
My story
I studied software engineering at Maltepe University and joined Vektora as an intern in 2013. Within months I was building SharePoint workflows and forms for Zorlu Holding and sitting in on requirements meetings. That was where I learned that most of the difficulty sits in the process, not in the code.
In November 2014 I co-founded Crosstech. For more than eight years I wrote .NET backends and designed APIs and databases, and I also handled quotes, contracts, budgets and hiring. Running a company taught me to tie every technical decision to time, money and a customer who has to live with the result.
In April 2023 I joined Tarım Kredi Teknoloji as Software Development and Product Manager. For three years I led product and delivery for platforms used across the group's subsidiaries and cooperatives, rebuilt the software, analysis and test teams, and worked with the board and general management on priorities. The six enterprise case studies on this site come from my employment, and they were delivered by teams.
That role ended in April 2026. Now I build my own products, Notkolik and EhliyetPro, and study for an Executive MBA at Boğaziçi University. I have also developed websites for two independent businesses. I want to stay close to the product while I study how organisations make decisions.
How I work
These are the principles I try to hold myself to. They are a draft, and I will keep refining them.
- Start from the work itself
- Before I propose a system, I want to see how the work happens today: the paper form, the spreadsheet, the email chain, the person who fixes things at the end of the day. Software that ignores this tends to be worked around.
- Name the decision first
- A feature request usually hides a decision someone has not made yet. I try to name that decision, who owns it and what it costs, before anyone writes code.
- Write it down so others can check
- Requirements, scope and trade-offs belong in writing that the team, the business and later readers can check. Clear documents make disagreements visible early, when they are cheaper.
- Change in stages people can absorb
- Large changes go better as an MVP, a pilot and a phased rollout than as one big switch. Each stage gives the organisation time to learn and gives the team real feedback.
- Stay close enough to build
- I still write code and build products myself. It keeps my estimates honest and lets me talk with engineers about real constraints instead of abstractions.
What shaped my perspective
- 2013–2014 · VektoraRequirements before code
Working on SharePoint workflows for a large holding company, I spent as much time in analysis and customer conversations as in development. I learned that a well-understood process is half of the solution.
- 2014–2023 · Crosstech, co-founderEvery scope decision has a price
As a co-founder I translated client problems into product scope within fixed time and budget, and I also signed the contracts and paid the salaries. I learned to say no to scope with a clear reason, and to protect the work that would last.
- 2023–2026 · Tarım Kredi TeknolojiStructure is part of the product
I introduced Jira across the company, set up an analysis unit that had not existed before, and adapted Agile practices to the company's culture. Good platforms depended as much on how teams planned, documented and decided as on the technology.
- 2023–2026 · Tarım Kredi TeknolojiMany companies, one roadmap
Aligning the needs of many subsidiaries into shared platforms taught me that a roadmap is a negotiation. The job is to make trade-offs explicit and agree them with the people who carry the consequences.
- 2026 to nowBack to building, with new questions
Building my own products again, and studying management formally, lets me test what I learned in enterprise work on a smaller scale where I own every decision.
Education
- Executive MBA, Boğaziçi University
- 2026 · in progress
- Strategic management, organisational leadership and business transformation.
- Software Engineering, Maltepe University
- 2009–2013
- Undergraduate degree in software engineering.
- Software and Database Development, BilgeAdam
- 2011
- Professional training in software and database development.
- Selected certifications
- 2023–2025
- Requirements Engineering (IREB/INCOSE), 2025. Scrum Fundamentals Certified (SFC), 2023. The full list is in my CV.
Elsewhere
- LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
- linkedin.com/in/gonencturkekul
- My professional profile and career history.
- Medium (opens in a new tab)
- gonencturkekul.medium.com
- Articles I have written, including a Turkish series on requirements engineering.
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