Every day, millions of people send each other a link to pick a meeting time. Many of those links lead to Calendly, the tool created by a Nigerian-born entrepreneur in Atlanta.
Tope Awotona founded Calendly in 2013. The company made him one of the most successful African-born founders in American technology.
Lagos to Atlanta
Awotona was born in Lagos. His family faced tragedy when his father was killed in a carjacking in Lagos when Tope was a boy. The family later moved to the United States, where he finished school and studied at the University of Georgia.
Early career
Awotona worked in sales at technology companies and tried several business ideas that failed, including selling products online. The failures taught him lessons about customers and markets.
The idea
The idea for Calendly came from frustration. Arranging meetings meant long email chains as people went back and forth over available times. Awotona wanted a simple way for people to share their availability and let others book a slot.
Betting everything
He invested his savings into building Calendly, reportedly putting in around $200,000 of his own money, including emptying his retirement savings and using credit cards. He ran the company with little outside funding for years.
Growth
Calendly grew through word of mouth: every time a user sent a Calendly link, the recipient saw the product. Businesses, recruiters, sales teams, teachers and individuals adopted it, often without any advertising from the company.
In 2021, the company raised a large investment that valued it at about $3 billion, making Awotona a billionaire on paper.
Profitability
Unlike many start-ups, Calendly was profitable for much of its history, which gave Awotona more control over the company.
Staying in Atlanta
Awotona built Calendly in Atlanta rather than Silicon Valley. The company’s growth helped raise the profile of Atlanta as a technology hub and showed that a major software company could be built outside California.
Representation
Awotona is one of very few Black founders to build a billion-dollar tech company in America. He has spoken about the challenges of raising money and the importance of persistence.
The simplest idea
Calendly solves a small, boring problem: finding a time to meet. Awotona’s success is a reminder that the most useful ideas are often the ones that remove a daily irritation nobody else bothered to fix.
