Tope Awotona

Tope Awotona is the founder and CEO of Calendly, the scheduling software platform used by over 20 million people worldwide and valued at $3 billion. He is the wealthiest Black tech founder in America and built his company without the network, pedigree, or initial funding that most successful tech founders rely on — investing his entire life savings of $200,000 to launch the company after being rejected by investors who didn't believe a Nigerian immigrant could build a tech giant.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1982, Awotona immigrated to the United States as a teenager after his father was murdered in a carjacking. He attended the University of Georgia and worked in sales at companies including Dell and Perceptive Software before identifying the scheduling problem that would become Calendly's focus. The idea was deceptively simple: make scheduling meetings effortless.

Awotona launched Calendly in 2013 and bootstrapped it for years, growing through product quality and word of mouth rather than massive marketing budgets. By 2021, the company had reached a $3 billion valuation, making Awotona one of the wealthiest self-made entrepreneurs in America. He has spoken candidly about the racism he faced from investors and the tech industry, and his success has become a symbol for immigrant entrepreneurs and for the untapped potential that the venture capital world systematically ignores.