Ilker Koksal
Founder & CEO who has built, scaled, and exited startups — now leading Finch Network
San Francisco, California, United States
I'm a serial founder and operator who loves building things from zero to one — whether that's a startup, a book, or a community of founders. I co-founded Botanalytics, a conversational analytics company for bots and human agents backed by 500Startups and ACT Venture Partners, and before that co-founded Referbase, a reference-based skill search platform that grew from 0 to 100k users before being acquired by Kariyer.net, Turkey's leading recruitment platform. I wrote Founder's FAQ, a startup guide built on 50+ interviews with founders, investors, and operators from companies like Airbnb, Stripe, Slack, and Snowflake, and I contributed as a writer for Forbes. I've also worked on the other side of the table as a Growth Consultant at Bain & Company and an Entrepreneur in Residence at ScaleX Ventures, where I built Founders Hub to help B2B founders scale. Today I'm Co-Founder & CEO of Finch Network. I'm a desirous learner and do'er, always looking for the next hard problem worth solving.
Startup Building & Scaling
I've founded and led multiple companies, from Referbase (0 to 100k users, acquired by Kariyer.net) to Botanalytics (backed by 500Startups) to Finch Network today.
Founder Advising & Mentorship
As an Entrepreneur in Residence at ScaleX Ventures and Growth Consultant at Bain & Company, I've supported dozens of Series A/B startups on product, marketing, fundraising, and growth.
Founder Knowledge & Content
I authored Founder's FAQ after interviewing 50+ founders and investors from Airbnb, Stripe, Slack, and more, and wrote as a Forbes Contributor for two years.
Finch Network
Co-founded and currently lead Finch Network as CEO.
Jan 2024 - Present
Botanalytics
Conversational analytics company for bots and human agents, improving human-to-bot communication by identifying bottlenecks, segmenting conversations, and giving smart recommendations. Backed by 500Startups & ACT Venture Partners.
Sep 2015 - Feb 2020
Referbase
Founded as a reference-based skill search platform where people managed and enhanced their skills via references, coding challenges, and portfolio videos. Led product & growth from 0 to 100k users; developed front-end infrastructure. Acquired by Kariyer.net, Turkey's leading recruitment platform.
Acquired in 2013
Founder's FAQ
Authored a guide answering the key questions founders face in the startup journey, based on interviews with 50+ founders and investors of companies like Airbnb, Coinbase, Deliveroo, HubSpot, Instacart, Lyft, Robinhood, Slack, Snapchat, Snowflake, Square, Stripe, Twilio, and Udemy.
Sep 2020 - Aug 2021
Co-Founder & CEO · Finch Network
January 2024 - Present (2 years 7 months)Entrepreneur in Residence · ScaleX Ventures
January 2022 - December 2023 (2 years)- Built and led Founders Hub, a cohort for B2B founders to scale their businesses by learning from top-tier operators and other founders.
- Support the company's portfolio companies on product, marketing, fundraising, and growth efforts.
Growth Consultant · Bain & Company
June 2021 - May 2022 (1 year)- Support Bain & Company's portfolio startups in their growth, primarily focusing on those in Series A and Series B stages.
Author · Founder's FAQ
September 2020 - August 2021 (1 year)- Founder's FAQ covers the answers to all the possible questions of a founder in a startup journey; an authentic guide revealing what works and what doesn't.
- Interviewed more than 50 people for the book, including founders who scaled and exited, investors of Airbnb, Coinbase, Deliveroo, Gusto, HubSpot, Instacart, Kayak, Lyft, Opendoor, Robinhood, Slack, Snapchat, Snowflake, Square, Stripe, Twilio, Udemy, and leaders of high-growth startups.
Co-Founder & CEO · Botanalytics
September 2015 - February 2020 (4 years 6 months)- Built a conversational analytics company for bots and human agents, backed by 500Startups & ACT Venture Partners.
- Improved human-to-bot communication by identifying bottlenecks, segmenting conversations, and giving smart recommendations.
Forbes Contributor · Forbes
January 2018 - January 2020 (2 years 1 month)Consultant · Google
April 2015 - September 2015 (6 months)- Worked with regional Google Analytics teams and UX consultants to design strategies to improve mobile monetization for Google's e-commerce clients in Turkey.
- Created mobile audit analysis reports using industry research, Google 25 Principles studies, Mobile Friendly Tests, Page Speed Insights, benchmark studies, and search keyword optimization techniques.
- Presented mobile audit analysis reports for clients including Hepsiburada.com, Atlas Global, Morhipo, CepteTeb, Enuygun.com, Nissan, Tatil.com, Teknosa, İkinciYeni, Kia, and Tatilsepeti.com.
Co-founder · Referbase - Acquired by Kariyer.net
May 2012 - August 2015 (3 years 4 months)- Founded as a reference-based skill search platform where thousands managed and enhanced their skills via references, coding, and video portfolios.
- Managed the platform's product & growth, moving from 0 to 100k users.
- Developed the front-end infrastructure.
- In 2013, it was acquired by Kariyer.net, the leading recruitment platform in Turkey.