Hardware Podcasts

Calendly: Tope Awotona

How I Built This · 14 Sept 2020 · 1h 11m

What this episode covers

Tope Awotona, founder of Calendly, explains how he pivoted from failed e-commerce ventures to building a $60 million/year scheduling platform after realizing the market lacked a simple, user-centric solution for complex meeting coordination. Awotona details his decision to self-fund the initial prototype by cashing in his 401(k) and maxing out credit cards, hiring the Ukrainian firm Railsware to build the MVP, and accidentally launching a free product that went viral among K-12 schools. He discusses the challenges of raising capital as a Black founder in the Southeast, securing early investment from David Commens of Atlanta Tech Village, and the strategic decision to monetize via a freemium model rather than seeking heavy VC backing.

Most relevant to

founders before launch and early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Railsware, IBM, Perceptive Software, Atlanta Tech Village
Products
Calendly, Big Green Egg, Projectorspot.com, Yardsteals.com

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