I’ve always been drawn to computers, the internet, and making things. I got my first computer in 2005. Like many kids, I mostly used it for games at first, but soon I discovered forums, websites, and blogs. That opened up a completely different world for me. In 2008, I launched my first real WordPress blog. Over the following years, I wrote hundreds of posts, reached thousands of readers, earned money from my writing, and even received products from well-known brands to review.

That early experience shaped me more than I realised at the time. It taught me that you can learn something deeply by creating, publishing, getting feedback, and improving over time. That mindset has stayed with me ever since.

I studied Computer Science at Dokuz Eylül University in İzmir, Türkiye. I genuinely enjoyed university because it gave me the chance to learn by building things instead of only studying theory. I graduated with high honour, ranking second in my class. During my studies, I did an internship at Protel in İstanbul, where I learned Ruby and Ruby on Rails. I later continued working there remotely and part-time.

In 2017, I found a summer internship in Hamburg at XING through an Erasmus internship scholarship. That internship changed the direction of my life. I liked the city, the work culture, and the feeling of building products used by real people. What started as a summer internship became a freelance working student role, and later a full-time job.

In 2018, I moved to Hamburg. At XING, I grew from a backend-focused developer into a more full-stack role. I became a Senior Developer after a couple of years and expanded my tech stack with TypeScript and React.

Later, during the COVID period, I joined Shopify and worked on Shop, their customer-facing app. Working on a product used by millions of people taught me a lot about scale, product quality, collaboration, and the small details that make software feel good. I also learned React Native and became more familiar with mobile app development.

I enjoy writing code, but I care just as much about the product itself: what problem it solves, how it feels to use, how it can be simpler, and how it can become more useful over time. That’s why I see myself as a product-minded developer.

After Shopify, I worked at two smaller companies. Those experiences helped me understand what kind of work gives me energy and what kind of work slowly takes it away. I realised that I wanted a healthier relationship with work, more independence, and more time to build things that feel meaningful to me.

That led me to start my own app studio, fruitful apps. Today, I build apps for Apple platforms with Swift and SwiftUI, listen to user feedback, and improve them step by step. I’m especially interested in creating useful, thoughtful, and calm software, products that solve real problems without demanding too much attention.

Over time, I’ve also become more interested in building for the place around me instead of trying to reach everyone everywhere. That’s one of the reasons I created Franzbrötchen, a city super app for Hamburg. I also write Alsterrunde, a newsletter about Hamburg, everyday city life, and the things I notice along the way.

Outside of work, I read a lot. (check my Goodreads account) I’m curious about many different topics and I like understanding how things work, why people behave the way they do, and how different ideas connect. I don’t see myself as someone who wants to specialise in only one narrow field. I’m more of a generalist. I enjoy learning from different areas and connecting them in creative ways.

I’m interested in minimalism, stoicism, environmentalism, financial independence, technology, books, food, and living a more intentional life. I also enjoy blogging and podcasting because they help me think more clearly and share what I learn. I started Farklı Düşün in 2021 with a friend, a Turkish podcast about Apple, technology, books, and more, for that reason.

On this blog, I write about whatever I’m currently curious or thinking about. If you enjoy reading it, don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll be the first to know when I publish a new post.