Charlie Karaboga
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Charlie is a seasoned product leader with 15+ years of experience driving multi-disciplinary teams in Europe and Australia. He has experience in the telecom, fintech, and crypto industries. He founded RelayPay, Australia's first crypto payment processor, and Block Earner, a digital asset wealth management fintech. Charlie has M.Sc. in Technology Management and a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering. As an entrepreneur, Charlie secured funding from Framework, Coinbase, and Sequoia for his startups.
Project Highlights
Expertise
Work Experience
CEO and Co-founder
Block Earner
- Worked from ideation to validation, assessed the business opportunity, and prepared a well-designed seed round deck and a go-to-market plan. Raised $4.5 million for the business from a group of international VCs.
- Completed the fundraising in four months and was hired as an A-class team product and engineering team to launch the MVP. Led the hiring process while project managing core initiatives.
- Managed the end-to-end process with licensing, legal and compliance matters, sourcing agencies and briefing them, and reviewing the output.
Co-founder
RelayPay
- Developed Australia's first crypto payment processor for merchants to unlock a $1 trillion crypto market.
- Designed a price explorer API solution, allowing RelayPay to scan for the best exchange rate for end users.
- Onboarded Tier 1 Australian travel and luxury brands.
- Prepared the investor pitch deck and successfully closed a $1.5 million seed investment.
- Designed the user stories and end-to-end customer and fund flows.
Head of Product
Synthetix
- Reported to the founder and led six FTEs in internal and external delivery teams. Oversaw Synthetix product suite, web apps, and decentralized app interfaces, facilitating user interaction with blockchain smart contracts.
- Launched Synthetix core products (Swappr.io, Mintr, and Synthetix Exchange), generating $200+ million in trading volume in less than six months. Empowered users to transact and invest in FOREX, stock, and commodities via blockchain, bypassing traditional banking or brokers.
- Directed the go-to-market strategy for Synthetix (formerly Havven), orchestrating a successful $30 million fundraising via performance media, achieving notable results with a budget below $250,000.
- Implemented growth hacking, including a referral campaign, boosting website visits to 1 million before the ICO. This resulted in an oversubscribed round, securing investments from 5,000+ participants within 90 minutes in an ICO.
- Launched the world's first e-store that accepts stablecoin, a cryptocurrency soft pegged to USD, as a payment option to sell Apple products.
Co-founder, Chief Product Officer
PetSleepover
- Executed the project from idea generation to cross-platform product launch with thousands of users. Successfully established a self-sufficient and asset-light company.
- Led a team of outsourced developers and designers to build a cross-platform product (iOS, Android, and web).
- Launched the world's first e-store that accepts stablecoin, a cryptocurrency soft pegged to USD, as a payment option to sell Apple products. This experiment was to prove the stability of the algorithmic stablecoin sUSD with a real-world item.
Senior Manager
Vodafone Australia
- Guided strategic consumer product design, leading 20+ FTEs. Led a $20 million CEO-sponsored transformation for digital expansion, product enhancement, and improved experience. I was integral to Vodafone's 30pt NPS rise and 35pt direct channel shift in four years.
- Crafted a market-disruptive online-only product portfolio, MyMix, empowering pre-paid customers to customize plans. A key Vodafone differentiator, MyMix delivered a $13 higher ARPU and 3x lower churn rate within a year, surpassing cohort averages.
- Elevated Vodafone's direct, commission-free, high-profitability channel revenue mix by 35 pts in two years. Led a transformative program, introducing PayPal, Auto-Recharge, and digital-first loyalty initiatives.
- Introduced a complementary add-on portfolio for pre-paid plans, achieving a 20% take-up rate and contributing 11% to total revenue. Successfully reduced user base churn rate by 50%.
- Introduced Roam Like Home, a market-leading product enabling local plan usage in New Zealand. This resulted in a 70% YoY increase in New Zealand roamers, with around 30% being new Vodafone customers. Recognized with a Canstar Innovation Award.
Group Product Manager
Vodafone Group
- Directed Daily Roaming's go-to-market plan, enabling seamless use of local bundles abroad at €3 per day. Led a diverse team across 20+ Vodafone OpCos, reaching 10+ million subscribers in the first year. Expanded globally, now available in 40+ operators worldwide.
- Delivered monthly financial analysis on Vodafone Group's Retail Roaming to executives and OpCo CEOs. At its peak, Retail Roaming contributed €6 billion to Vodafone Group P&L.
- Orchestrated LRP studies for Group Roaming P&L, collaborating with OpCo stakeholders. Oversaw evaluation of strategic product ideas, engaging with finance, regulation teams, and market leads across group operators.
Product Manager
Vodafone Turkey
- Pioneered Vodafone Group's Daily Roaming debut, garnering widespread media coverage. It was the catalyst for Vodafone Turkey's #1 NPS position, showcasing strategic impact and innovation.
- Launched Vodafone Advantage, a pioneering post-paid plan integrating international minutes. The disruptive strategy propelled high-value customer acquisitions by 20%, maintaining a steady margin.
- Negotiated wholesale voice and data IoT deals with Vodafone Group OpCos, partner markets, and competitors. Direct collaboration with senior leadership, optimizing inter-operator traffic agreements.
- Worked as a featured speaker at global forums, including the Global Roaming forum, sharing Vodafone Turkey's success in leveraging roaming and international calling to build a high-value customer base.
Senior Account Manager
Turkcell
- Led annual wholesale roaming negotiations with 40+ account executives from 100+ European and Asian operators, overseeing a €90 million portfolio. Strategically secured incoming roaming revenue while optimizing outbound margins.
- Elevated Turkcell's inbound wholesale revenue share by 20 percentage points, achieving a 65% revenue share. Key success in acquiring traffic from Vodafone Turkey's portfolio.
- Drove transformation as a roaming consultant in the wholesale business and coached local teams for Turkcell Group Operators: LIFE Ukraine and BEST Belarus.
Project History
Blockchain-based Synthetic Asset Platform
https://synthetix.ioLaunched the world’s first blockchain-based synthetic asset platform at Synthetix on the Ethereum network.
Synthetix specializes in the creation of synthetic financial assets, ingeniously underpinned by a collateral token on the Ethereum blockchain, meticulously mirroring the off-chain value of these assets. This pioneering approach not only enhances the reliability of financial instruments but also democratizes access to global markets, including FOREX, commodities, and stock markets.
The transformative impact of Synthetix extends beyond traditional financial paradigms, providing a revolutionary platform that extends access to financial instruments globally. This inclusive approach caters to both banked and unbanked users, reaffirming Synthetix's position as a vanguard in reshaping the landscape of financial accessibility and innovation.
Daily Subscription Model for Roaming
https://www.vodafone.com/what-we-do/services/roamingLed the launch of a daily roaming product in 14 European countries at the Vodafone Group.
Notably, the success of daily roaming transcended regional boundaries, evolving into a globally embraced proposition. It was successfully launched by all Vodafone operators and integrated into Vodafone Partner networks globally. Presently, the product enjoys a robust presence in the market, having been adopted by over 40 operators worldwide.
PetSleepover: A Marketplace for Pet Sitters and Owners
https://youtu.be/X5YX4P3Gi3kExecuted the project from idea generation to cross-platform product launch with thousands of users.
The core mission involved streamlining the fragmented pet ownership ecosystem by fostering seamless connections among its various components. The ultimate goal was to facilitate a more accessible, contemporary, and enjoyable relationship with pets. Through strategic initiatives, PetSleepover successfully reduced barriers, fostering a more convenient and modern experience for pet owners within this transformative ecosystem.
Education
Master of Science Degree in Engineering and Technology Management
Bogazici University - Istanbul, Turkey
Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering
Marmara University - Istanbul, Turkety
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring