Animal Kingdom - Sharks of Atlanta: Tope Awotona - Founder Calendly

Shark symbolizes authority, curiosity, efficiency, connection, guardianship, innovation, knowledge, mystery, observation, power, perception, protection, superiority, movement, and self-defense.

The above symbolizes Tope Awotona as it relates to navigating the waters of venture capitalism and a tech startup.  

• Tope Awotona is the founder and CEO of scheduling software company Calendly.
• Awotona, a former salesman for tech firms including EMC (now Dell EMC), founded Calendly out of his own frustration with the back-and-forth emails required to schedule meetings.
• He bootstrapped Calendly for years before taking on a $350 million investment in 2021 that valued the firm at $3 billion.
• Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Awotona immigrated to the United States as a teenager.
• Before founding Calendly, he had started a few other businesses, including one that sold projectors and another that sold garden tools, that flopped.

Here are a few great Podcasts and YouTube Interviews that encapsulate why Tope Awotona embodies the Shark traits as it relates to our Animal Kingdom: Shark Series.

1. https://youtu.be/fV65-LDHa5o
2. https://saasclub.io/podcast/calendlys-founder-finding-saas-success-after-failed-startups/
3. https://afrotech.com/tope-awotona-calendly-richest-immigrant
4. https://www.inc.com/magazine/201908/cameron-albert-deitch/tope-awotona-calendly-online-scheduling-venture-capital-nigeria-immigrant.html