Özgür Erol, Finance Expert in Berlin, Germany
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Özgür Erol

Verified Expert  in Finance

Growth Expert

Location
Berlin, Germany
Toptal Member Since
May 23, 2022

A business expert with an engineering background, Özgür is highly experienced in business planning, reporting, and finance. Throughout his 7-year career, he worked for high-growth startups and scaleups and co-founded an up-and-coming startup. He acted as an in-house consultant, built departments, partook in strategic decisions, and participated in funding rounds and an exit through a merger. Özgür is willing to work on new projects leveraging his experience to help clients scale their business.

Business DevelopmentBusiness Plan ConsultingGrowth StrategyGrowth Strategy ConsultantsMarket SizingMarket SegmentationManagement ConsultingPricing ConsultingMarket Research AnalystFundraising ConsultantFundraisingFinancial ModelingMarket ResearchStartup FundingPrivate EquityKPIBusiness Planning ConsultingBusiness Process Optimization ConsultingFinancial Reporting

Career Highlights

Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer
Doctor Kimchi
Head of Finance
Lemon One
Manager – Business Intelligence
Applause

Education Highlights

Master’s Degree
Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg
Bachelor's Degree
Istanbul Technical University

Case Studies

Work Experience

Head of Financial Planning and Analysis

2023 - PRESENT
Market Logic
  • Led finance digitalization initiatives, implementing two new software solutions and four new processes.
  • Collaborated with C-level executives to build the financial forecast for debt financing.
  • Managed commercial and revenue forecasting with the sales team, taking the full responsibility for communicating the figures with board and investors.
Focus areas: Analytics, Finance, Financials, Debt Financing, Financing, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Private Equity, IT Services

Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer

2022 - 2023
Doctor Kimchi
  • Built the business plan and financial model that is currently being used for investment discussions.
  • Created the eCommerce structure and set up a direct-to-consumer (D2C) channel.
  • Defined the growth, sales, and marketing strategy based on customer personas and forecasts from the financial model.
  • Negotiated with local and q-commerce retailers for annual contracts.
Focus areas: Commerce, Commercials, Business, Business Planning, Investor Relations, Startups, Process Management, Business Processes, Business Process Optimization, Business Process Analysis, Process Mapping, Market Research, Market Research & Analysis, Business Strategy, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Strategy, Business Development, Pricing Consulting, Business Models, Pricing, B2C, Board Presentations, Roadmaps, Customer Data, Pricing Models, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Sales & Marketing, Go-to-market Strategy, Go-to-market Plans, Pricing Strategy, Growth Strategy, Growth Strategy Consultants, Process Design, Project Management, Business Analysis, Use Case Analysis, Market Sizing, Total Addressable Market (TAM), Retail & Wholesale, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Market Segmentation, Surveys, Lean Product Manager, Operational Efficiency Improvement, Operations, Data Analysis, Competition Research, Competitive Analysis, New Business Development, Lead Generation, Deal Closure, Marketing Plans, Fundraising, Fundraising Strategy, Fundraising Consultant, Pitch Decks, Startup Funding, Process Control, Process Flows, Shopify, eCommerce, Consumer Health, B2B Partnerships, Sales Growth, Sales Strategy, COO, Sales Commission Structure

Head of Finance

2020 - 2022
Lemon One
  • Created the financial model and business plan for two multi-million fundraising rounds from scratch and actively participated in the fundraising and merger conversations.
  • Re-created the accounting process and financial reporting and increased the accuracy of accounting from 72% to 99% based on a monthly EBITDA gap between accounting and operational data.
  • Grew the controlling department that covers finance and business intelligence functions from scratch by hiring five employees.
  • Built the data warehouse with BigQuery and implemented the business intelligence tool, Google Data Studio.
  • Managed the project for invoicing and revenue collection automation and decreased the outstanding (uncollected) revenue from 24% to 4% within four months.
  • Introduced a credit note structure and improved the freelancer payment process, ensuring that 100% of the payments were completed within the first five days of the following month.
Focus areas: Accounting, Finance, Business Intelligence (BI), Reporting, Fundraising, Investor Relations, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Business Planning, Financial Modeling, Startups, Process Improvement, Process Management, Process Optimization, Business Process Modeling, Business Processes, Business Process Optimization, Business Process Analysis, Business Transformation, Process Mapping, Business Strategy, Management Consulting, Venture Capital, Strategy, Operating Models, Business Development, Business Models, Pricing, Enterprise Software, Board Presentations, Business Plan Consulting, Analytics, Subscriptions, Data Analytics, SaaS, Subscription Pricing, Cohort Analysis, Roadmaps, Software as a Service (SaaS), Customer Data, Pricing Models, Consulting, Sales & Channel Enablement, Go-to-market Plans, Pricing Strategy, Growth Strategy, Growth Strategy Consultants, Process Design, Project Management, Business Analysis, Use Case Analysis, Market Sizing, Total Addressable Market (TAM), Market Research Analyst, Stakeholder Mapping, Market Segmentation, United States, Operational Efficiency Improvement, Operations, Data Science, Data Analysis, Data Management, Competition Research, Competitive Analysis, Fundraising Strategy, Fundraising Consultant, Pitch Decks, Startup Funding, Process Control, Process Flows, EMEA, Sales Commission Structure

Manager – Business Intelligence

2017 - 2020
Applause
  • Hired and trained eight employees over three years that created the reporting structure for all seven different departments in the EU division.
  • Built and automated weekly and quarterly annual recurring revenue (ARR) sales forecasting, managing it weekly with the sales directors and the global headquarters.
  • Managed the rollout of three different sales efficiency and engagement platforms—Highspot, Allego, and outreach.io.
  • Developed and automated quota setting and management for the sales department and managed it quarterly, holding four sales directors and 23 account executives responsible.
  • Introduced the OKR structure to the EU division in close collaboration with the executive team. Onboarded and trained 10+ team managers to apply OKRs to their teams and led the quarterly reviews.
Focus areas: Business Intelligence (BI), Forecasting, Financial Modeling, Sales Operations, Sales Strategy, Process Design, Process Automation, Startups, Process Improvement, Process Management, Process Optimization, Business Process Modeling, Business Processes, Business Process Optimization, Business Process Analysis, Process Mapping, Market Research, Market Research & Analysis, Business Strategy, Management Consulting, Strategy, Operating Models, Pricing Consulting, Business Models, Middle East, Enterprise Software, Business Plan Consulting, Analytics, Subscriptions, Data Analytics, SaaS, Subscription Pricing, Cohort Analysis, Roadmaps, Software as a Service (SaaS), Customer Data, Pricing Models, Consulting, Sales & Channel Enablement, Sales & Marketing, Go-to-market Strategy, Go-to-market Plans, Pricing Strategy, Growth Strategy, Growth Strategy Consultants, Project Management, Business Analysis, Use Case Analysis, Market Sizing, Total Addressable Market (TAM), Market Research Analyst, Stakeholder Mapping, Marketo, Market Segmentation, Surveys, United States, Operational Efficiency Improvement, Operations, Data Science, Data Analysis, Data Management, Competition Research, Competitive Analysis, B2B Lead Generation, Lead Generation, Marketing Plans, Pitch Decks, Process Control, Process Flows, EMEA, Account-based Marketing (ABM), Sales Effectiveness, Private Equity, IT Services, Sales Commission Structure

Sales Business Analyst

2016 - 2016
Red Bull
  • Built the reporting structure for the sales department in collaboration with global headquarters.
  • Managed the quota setting with the executive team and four regional directors for all channels within the country.
  • Spearheaded weekly and quarterly forecasting with the sales leadership team and kept the 16 sales managers accountable.
Focus areas: Business Intelligence (BI), Budgeting, Controlling, Forecasting, Quota Setting, Process Management, Process Optimization, Business Processes, Business Process Optimization, Business Process Analysis, Market Research, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Omnichannel Marketing, Middle East, B2C, Analytics, Customer Data, Pricing Models, Sales & Channel Enablement, Sales & Marketing, Business Analysis, Retail & Wholesale, Operational Efficiency Improvement, Data Analysis, Lead Generation, EMEA, Sales Effectiveness, Sales Growth, Sales Strategy, Sales Commission Structure

Key Accounts Sales Representative

2014 - 2016
Red Bull
  • Managed four key accounts with 27% year-over-year (YoY) revenue growth.
  • Closed the first annual deal and listed the Red Bull products for the first time in a new key account that became the fifth biggest customer in the country within two years.
  • Built the best practice for sampling on the B2B channels to increase outreach and access to the retail channels.
Focus areas: Sales, Key Account Management, Contract Drafting, Margin Optimization, Field Sales, Sales & Marketing, Retail & Wholesale, New Business Development, Lead Generation, Deal Closure, EMEA, Customer Success, B2B Partnerships, Sales Growth

Key Accounts Sales Executive

2014 - 2014
Marsh
  • Managed six key accounts from mid-large segment with 100% renewal rate and 13% YoY revenue growth.
  • Acquired three new customers that are production-oriented and with 1000+ employees with a total of $400k annual revenue.
  • Reviewed and redefined account management processes. Kept people accountable for following the best practices.
Focus areas: Insurance Broking, Risk, Risk Management, Key Account Management, Sales & Marketing, Financial Services, New Business Development, Deal Closure, eCommerce, EMEA, Customer Success, B2B Partnerships, Sales Growth

Enterprise Sales Development

2013 - 2014
Vodafone Group
  • Led a customer relationship management (CRM) system implementation project on the indirect B2B sales channel.
  • Introduced and implemented a central CRM system on 57 local subsidiaries and trained 150+ employees.
  • Oversaw the rollout of a third-party employee engagement platform to reach employees of local subsidiaries.
  • Created and maintained churn and retention reporting for the indirect sales channels.
Focus areas: Sales Strategy, CRM Systems, Employee Engagement, Marketing Strategy, EMEA

Brand Marketing

2013 - 2013
The Coca-Cola Company
  • Took part in the core team for a new iced tea product launch in Turkey, from analysis to implementation, where the brand reached 19% market share in its category within four months.
  • Created and maintained the management reporting for a new segment in the market.
  • Managed the social media campaigns with a marketing agency.
Focus areas: Marketing, Brand Marketing, Product Launch, Launch Strategy, Marketing Analytics, Market Opportunity Analysis, EMEA
2016 - 2018

Master’s Degree in Business Administration

Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg - Magdeburg, Germany

2009 - 2014

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering

Istanbul Technical University - İstanbul, Turkey

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