Who is Tope Awotna?
Tope Awotona was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1982. At 12, he witnessed his father’s tragic murder during a carjacking. This event deeply affected him. In 1996, his family moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Tope graduated from high school at 15. He then attended the University of Georgia, studying business and management information systems.
After college, Tope worked in sales for tech companies like IBM and Dell EMC. He tried starting businesses, including a dating site and an online store, but they didn’t succeed.
How did Tope Awotna start Calendly?
In 2013, frustrated with the process of scheduling meetings, he founded Calendly. He realized the process of sending back and forth emails to schedule a meeting was not efficient, which led to the founding of Calendly. He invested his $200,000 in life savings into the company. Calendly simplifies meeting scheduling by eliminating back-and-forth emails.
The company’s simple no-fuss approach led it to become one of the most popular scheduling tools worldwide.
Tope’s entrepreneurial spirit runs in the family. His mother and aunt owned a pharmacy, and his grandmother had a textile business.
By 2016, Calendly became profitable. In 2021, it raised $350 million, valuing the company at $3 billion. Tope’s majority stake made him a billionaire, with a net worth of at least $1.4 billion.
Tope Awotona’s journey from Nigeria to founding a billion-dollar company is inspiring. His determination and innovation led to his success.
What is Tope Awotna’s net worth?
As of November 2024, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $1.4B.
Image Attribute: Collision Conf, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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