Tope Awotona

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Tope Awotona is a tech entrepreneur known for founding the software company, Calendly. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Tope Awotona born in Lagos, Nigeria. His father was a microbiologist and entrepreneur; his mother worked at the local bank. [1] At the age of 12 years old, Awotona's father was tragically killed in a carjacking, thus propelling him and his family which included his mother and three brothers to leave Lagos and migrate to the US residing in Atlanta, GA. [1] It was then that Awotona used his pain to continue his father's legacy of entrepreneurship. [2] He majored in computer science at the University of Georgia where he later changed his concentration to business and management and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. [3] His ethnicity is Yoruba. [4]

Career

Following graduation from college, Awotona worked for different corporate jobs including IBM before joining a startup company in Kansas City, Perceptive Software as an accountant executive. [5] It was there while working for the company that he was exposed to various kinds of functions of the software business. [6] While trying to schedule a meeting as a salesman, Awotona become frustrated, and poured his life savings into creating Calendly. [3] [5] Launched from Atlanta Tech Village, Calendly made its debut in 2013. [1] Since 2013, Calendly is now a $3 billion software firm that continues to provide simple solutions for business communications, team scheduling, and preparation follow-ups. [3] As of 2024, Calendly app has 10 million users, according to Forbes making Awotona one of the wealthiest immigrants in America. [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Feldman, Amy. "Nigeria-Born Tope Awotona Poured His Life Savings Into Calendly. Now He's One Of America's Wealthiest Immigrants". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  2. ↑ Ngozi, Nwanji (October 12, 1023). "How Tope Awotona Catapulted Calendly To A Billion-Dollar Company After Making It His Mission To Complete His Late Father's Work". MSN.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Tope Awotona, 42-year-old richest US-based Nigerian who owns $3bn tech company". Vanguard. 2024-02-01. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  4. ↑ "Why The Yoruba Are Successful Wherever They Go – THISDAYLIVE". www.thisdaylive.com. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  5. 1 2 Shen, Lucinda (2020-11-20). "Meet the unicorn founder that braved war zones and missed meetings to make his mark on the startup world". Fortune.
  6. ↑ Houghton, Karen (April 26, 2018). "Tope Awontona- A founder Story".
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