The Team
We may be only three, but we’ve got the skills and experience to help your team tackle the next challenge.
We can seem quite casual on the surface, but underneath we’re true professionals – dedicated to our craft.
Deliberately small
We’ve been part of larger teams before but prefer the benefits of keeping things lean. If we ever need more power, we’ve got a network of specialists we can rely on.
The Experience
Collectively we have 80 years of experience and have worked at brands from a mix of industries and sectors.
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Business Process Outsourcing
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Business Consulting
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Call-Centers
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Digital Marketing
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Financial Services: Retail Banking, Payment Systems, Cards Issuing-Acquiring, Treasury, Factoring
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MarComm & CorpComm
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Media & Entertainment
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Sales & Revenue Enhancement
Tolga Iskır
Founder | Managing Partner
Based in Istanbul, Tolga advises national and international clients primarily in the banking, insurance and call-center sectors. His clients include global corporations, private equity firms and small businesses. He is passionate about helping organizations change. Working with individuals and teams who want to make a difference and create incremental value energizes him the most.
Prior to founding Square1, Tolga was a Senior Vice President with Turkish cards giant, Garanti BBVA Payment Systems and was responsible in building its Romania cards franchise. He began his financial services career as a LCY & FI Securities Dealer at the Treasury department of American Express Bank Turkey, and has held management positions of increasing responsibilities with local and international players in Turkey, Germany, and Romania over the following years.
Tolga has a BS in Business Administration from Hacettepe University in Ankara and claims to have received his MBA and PhD equivalent degrees with his 10-year tenure at Citigroup. He is fluent in English, German, Turkish and conversational in Italian. An avid fan of classic cars, Tolga is also passionate about Italian culture, contemporary history, movies, rock music, electric guitars and traveling.
Barış Akkol
Partner | Digital Marketing
Based in Toronto, Barış leads our Digital Marketing practice and advises national and international clients primarily in the retail services. He brings an invaluable 20+ years of professional experience on board.
A graduate of Istanbul Technical University's Computer Engineering, Barış started his career with local Biobak as IT Engineer, only to join Canada based ITD's Istanbul Office as IT Manager shortly afterwards.
At his long stint with Turkey's leading media group, Doğuş Media Group, Barış rotated through a number of functions and was leading the Digital Channels before he couldn't resist the sweet charm of enterpreneurship to establish his own firm, Social Geek Agency in 2018.
He is a passionate Fenerbahçe SK fan and loves to spend his leisure time to learn how to restore classic cars.
Pınar Çolpan-Iskır
Partner | Communications & Event Management
Based in Istanbul, Pınar brings on 15+ years of management experience with institutions from various sectors and leads our Communications and Event Management practices.
Prior to joining Square1, Pınar had a long stint with Turkey’s leading retail bank Garanti, where she accumulated management experiences as both a Product Manager and MarComm & CorpComm Manager. She continued her Communications management role by representing Turkey’s Interbank Card Center BKM as well. Besides the financial sector, she also brings valuable experiences from the media and entertainment sectors, from the German based international media company ArboMedia and Turkey’s only performing arts center, Zorlu PSM.
Pınar has a BA in International Relations and an MBA, both from Yeditepe University in Istanbul. She is fluent in English and Turkish, and promises to improve her basic German. Outside of work, she is passionate about digital marketing, travel, great food, and family.