About

Who is Osman Koc?

Osman Koc is co-founder and CEO at UserGuiding, based in London, known for his Forbes Technology Council articles on user onboarding, activation and AI in SaaS products.

UserGuiding is a no-code product adoption platform. It helps software companies guide their users to value with in-app onboarding that their teams build without code. Osman Koc has held the co-founder and CEO role at UserGuiding since 2018 and runs the company with his co-founder and CTO, Muhammet Enginar.

Where did Osman Koc grow up?

Osman Koc grew up in a small town in Turkey. He went to Meram Science High School (Meram Fen Lisesi), one of the top science high schools in Turkey, from 2006 to 2010. From 2010 to 2015 he studied business administration at Boğaziçi University.

Nobody in Osman Koc's family had worked in tech. Boğaziçi University is where he first met tech businesses and the alumni building them.

How did Osman Koc get into startups?

Osman Koc has worked in the startup ecosystem since 2014. He started as a venture analyst at Boğaziçi University's angel investment network, where he reviewed thousands of business plans and interviewed hundreds of founders.

Osman Koc and his childhood friend Muhammet Enginar then quit their jobs and started YNOT Partners, a startup studio that helped founders turn early ideas into products and teams.

How did Osman Koc start UserGuiding?

While running YNOT Partners, Osman Koc and Muhammet Enginar noticed a bigger problem they could solve. They moved from the studio model to software as a service (SaaS), and that work became UserGuiding.

The two founders nearly gave up more than five times. They kept going. Today UserGuiding runs for profitability, has not raised money in years and serves companies around the world.

Muhammet Enginar is UserGuiding's CTO and still Osman Koc's co-founder. The two have known each other for almost 20 years.

What does Osman Koc write about?

Osman Koc has written for the Forbes Technology Council since 2025, about onboarding, activation and AI in SaaS. His Forbes articles include "How Can You Use AI To Onboard Your Users?" (October 2026) and "Your Product Doesn't Have A Feature Problem, It Has An Onboarding Problem" (December 2025). He also writes on the UserGuiding blog and in his newsletter, Koc's Journal.

The topics Osman Koc writes about:

• Founder life: staying in the game, first-generation founder life, the long middle where compounding happens.
• SaaS growth: running for profitability, watching customers instead of competitors.
• Onboarding and adoption: time-to-value, activation, segmentation.
• AI in SaaS products: trust, onboarding for AI features, deciding what to build.
• Books and habits: reading lists, running, small daily systems.

Which podcasts does Osman Koc host?

Osman Koc hosts two Turkish podcasts on SaaS and entrepreneurship. Türk Gibi SaaS Yapmak is about how SaaS founders can grow faster. XYZ Podcast is a series of short conversations on life, the future, technology and business, with Aykut Karaalioğlu.

How does Osman Koc support other founders?

Osman Koc mentors at least two early-stage startups every week and sits on a few advisory boards. In 2025 he co-founded the Turkish Founders Club, which connects Turkish entrepreneurs worldwide. He has been a member of the SaaStock Founder Membership since 2022.

Osman Koc's mentoring and advisory roles include Prodiax (advisor since 2026), İstinye Garage Incubation Hub (mentor since 2022), Helyum (advisory board member since 2022), HockeyStack (mentor since 2020), Juphy (strategic advisor since 2020), heybooster (advisory board member since 2020) and Workup İş Bankası (mentor since 2019).

What is Kalem Kutusu Gönüllüleri?

Kalem Kutusu Gönüllüleri is a volunteer group working to improve education opportunities in rural areas. Osman Koc is its founder and has co-chaired it since 2012.

What does Osman Koc do outside work?

Osman Koc runs and reads. He has run more than 3,000 km in 18 months, including two full marathons and more than 50 half marathons. His reading goal is 52 books a year, and he is getting closer to it.

Osman Koc also built Quarters Club, a non-profit habit app that turns focused time into clean-water donations.

Where is Osman Koc based?

Osman Koc moved to London in 2023 and is based there. He speaks Turkish and English.

What roles does Osman Koc hold?

Where did Osman Koc study?