Meet Ozan Uzunsimsek

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ozan Uzunsimsek and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ozan, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My journey into entrepreneurship was shaped by years of working as a multidisciplinary visual designer. Throughout my career, I worked across branding, graphic design, and digital product design, helping businesses communicate their ideas and create better experiences. Over time, I realized that design is much more than aesthetics. It’s about understanding people, identifying problems, and building solutions that create real value.

Working closely with businesses and entrepreneurs gave me a unique perspective on the challenges they face. I became increasingly interested in creating products rather than simply providing services. I wanted to build something with a lasting impact and have greater ownership over the ideas I believed in.

That mindset led me to found Abonma. I saw an opportunity to simplify how independent professionals and small businesses offer and manage subscriptions, service packages, and recurring revenue. My goal was to create a platform that helps entrepreneurs focus on their expertise while making it easier to build sustainable businesses and stronger relationships with their customers.

Looking back, starting my own business wasn’t a sudden decision. It was a natural evolution of my creative career. Design taught me how to think, and entrepreneurship gave me the opportunity to turn those ideas into products that can empower others. Today, I see myself not only as a designer, but as a builder focused on creating meaningful solutions that help people grow.

What should our readers know about your business?
Abonma is a platform I founded with a very clear focus: helping independent professionals and small businesses simplify how they offer and manage subscriptions, service packages, and recurring revenue. The idea came from observing a real gap in how many small operators struggle with the operational side of their business while trying to focus on their actual craft.

What sets Abonma apart is that it is built from a design-first and product-thinking perspective. My background in multidisciplinary visual design heavily influenced how the product was shaped. I approach problems not just from a functional standpoint, but also from the perspective of clarity, usability, and human behavior. That mindset has been central in creating a platform that feels simple and intuitive, even when dealing with complex business operations.

Getting here was not a linear or easy process. Like most early-stage products, it involved a lot of iteration, uncertainty, and rebuilding ideas based on real user needs. One of the biggest challenges was learning how to transition from a service-based design career into building and shipping a product that needs to scale and evolve over time. That shift required a different way of thinking, especially in terms of prioritization, resilience, and long-term vision.

The biggest lessons I’ve learned are around patience, simplicity, and staying close to the problem rather than the solution. It is very easy to get distracted by features or assumptions, but real progress comes from continuously validating what actually matters to users and removing everything that does not.

What I want people to understand about Abonma is that it is not just another SaaS tool. It is the result of a designer’s transition into entrepreneurship, built on years of working closely with real businesses and understanding their challenges from the inside. At its core, it is about empowering people to run more sustainable and independent businesses with less friction and more clarity.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
San Diego always felt special to me. If my best friend was visiting San Diego for a week, I would want them to experience the city through its contrast of ocean, neighborhoods, and slow coastal energy rather than just tourist spots.

I would start with La Jolla. Mornings there feel very calm, especially around the coves where the sea lions are. It is the kind of place where you can just walk, sit, and take in the coastline without needing a plan. From there, driving up the coast to Torrey Pines is almost mandatory. The cliffs, hiking trails, and ocean views capture what San Diego feels like at its core.

Midweek, I would shift into the more urban side. Balboa Park is where I would spend a full afternoon, not rushing it. The architecture, museums, and open spaces give a very different rhythm compared to the coast. In the evening, the Gaslamp Quarter is where the energy picks up, with good food, bars, and people everywhere, but still in a relaxed Southern California way.

For food, I would mix simple local spots with more memorable dinners. Tacos are a must throughout the week, especially from small neighborhood places rather than anything too curated. One night would definitely be reserved for a sunset dinner by the water in Ocean Beach or Pacific Beach, just watching the light change over the ocean.

I would also leave space in the week with no fixed plan. That is something San Diego does well. Some of the best moments there happen when you are just driving along the coast, stopping wherever feels right, and letting the day decide itself.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to give my shoutout to the many talented designers and developers I’ve had the chance to work with over the years. Being part of multidisciplinary teams exposed me to different ways of thinking, building, and solving problems, and it played a huge role in shaping both my design perspective and my approach to entrepreneurship.

Working alongside people who are deeply skilled in their craft constantly pushed me to grow. Whether it was in product discussions, design critiques, or technical collaborations, those shared experiences taught me how important it is to build things with others rather than in isolation.

I also want to acknowledge the broader creative and tech communities that continuously share knowledge and raise the bar for everyone. A lot of what I know today comes from those collective contributions.

Abonma, in many ways, is a reflection of those collaborations and conversations over the years. It wouldn’t be what it is today without the people I’ve learned from and worked with along the way.

Website: https://abonma.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abonmacom