We’re looking forward to introducing you to Tolga Onuk. Check out our conversation below.
Tolga, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
I am proud of the new company that I am building silently.
We just gathered an all star team including foremost leaders of the e-Mobility industry. Things are moving pretty fast. 2026 is definitely gonna be an interesting year. It is very exciting…
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a seasoned technology leader with 20+ years of experience scaling tech startups and enterprises across SaaS, Mobility, and Consumer Tech. I have proven track record of creating ~$110M in company equity value through acquisitions, exits, and fundraising. I am a 3x founder and entrepreneur with deep expertise in product design, development, and go-to-market strategy.
I am currently building Bolt, a next generation e-Mobility network. Our vision is to build a distinctly unique, premium experience for EV enthusiasts, destination travelers, tourists, and modern intellectuals.
Unfortunately I can’t share more, you have to wait until 2026, and stay tuned.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
Quite honestly, nobody.
Of course I have been inspired by many people but I have been through a unique entrepreneurial journey of my own and with life’s all ups and downs, I managed to be still here, alive, healthy. I am living in my dream lake house in California, with the love of my life.
But of course, it has not been easy, and it is still not easy!
I learned a lot from both my professional and my personal life experiences. There has been times that I went to sleep feeling like a failure, but the next day I was up and running, and even more passionate to go after my dreams.
My parents were technical and hardworking people, my mother was a mathematician and my father was an engineer. Life is not easy on anyone, and I never received any big financial help from another person in my life, including my parents. In fact, after paying for my first semester tuition and buying an old 1993 Mitsubishi Eclipse, I had a little more than $500 in my pocket on December 2005–exactly 20 years ago.
That’s how I started my entrepreneurial journey.
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
When I started my first company I was on fire about developing Apps. My previous company Thunderbolt built dozens of websites, mobile apps and games for our clients. I was very ambitious about making my bootstrapped company a success. I had a cool studio in Beverly Hills with 20 people in-house team, multiple engineering partners across the globe, and I loved what I was doing…
Until I realized, there was no way I could just build a service based company and really sustain that fast pace work for many years. I over exhausted myself, and I decided to pivot and focus on building products instead of providing services. This was in 2017, and since then I have mastered the science of building, developing and managing seamless products, specifically in the eMobility Industry.
This is how I ended up coming up with the concept of Bolt EV Network. We are building a premium brand and a seamless product that everyone will admire and love.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
I will be straight forward and tell you the truth: The eMobility and EV Charging industry in the US is not only falling behind, we are entirely losing the electrification race which will determine the next global power in the rest of this century.
Most EV Charging companies in the US (other than Tesla) are not generating enough revenue to be competitive. Top EV Charging brands like ChargePoint, Blink, EVGo are on the verge of bankruptcy. Enel X left the US market, EvoCharge filed Bankruptcy recently. ZipCar just announced that they will be shutting down by the end of 2025.
Larger companies usually have a large burn rate with no supporting revenue and innovation, and they are poorly managed by people with no deep technology expertise.
Smaller startups also have inexperienced management teams, poor deployment strategies and are not positioned to scale considering the supply chain, and technology infrastructure dynamics.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
When I am working on Bolt, I do feel like I am working on creating a sustainable business and a model that will inspire others. And this is exactly what I was born to do.
This unique project is a long-term investment for me. Given the emerging nature of the technology industry, I feel like there are great opportunities unfolding everyday. And what can I say?
I am feeling very lucky… 🍀
Contact Info:
- Website: https://boltev.net
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/boltev.network
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boltevnetwork/
- Other: https://www.tolgaonuk.com
Image Credits
Bolt EV Network – Tolga Onuk
boltEV.net / boltEVnetwork.com / boltEV.network
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
