Awotona emptied his 401(k) and maxed out credit cards to fund Calendly
Tope Awotona · Calendly: Tope Awotona · Sep 14, 2020 · at 46:33
Tope Awotona, founder and CEO of Calendly, describes the extreme financial risks he took to bootstrap the software prototype after contract development was quoted at over $200,000.
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“So cobbled together my four one K and my savings and then and then some debt and maxed out all my credit cards and put it all in on on this on this idea that at the time didn't even have a name.”
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Awotona: Entrepreneurial engineers prefer building their own ideas over joining yours
“Most engineers that are entrepreneurial, they would rather pursue their own ideas, or if they're going to take their risk, they're rather, you know, like bet on themselves and kind of go after it.”
Awotona: Coastal VCs prioritize growth, while non-coastal VCs value revenue
“I think that the farther you are away from the coast, the more they the more investors value revenue. Whereas when you're on the coast, I think they care more about growth.”
Awotona: Calendly has raised only $550,000 in total outside venture capital
“On the balance sheet, just the half the 550,000 dollars. That's all the outside money that's gone into the business.”
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“Absolutely not. I'm very excited about what we're doing, and I feel like we're just getting started, and there's a lot to do, and so that's not remotely on my radar.”
Awotona: Being an immigrant's child hindered navigating the corporate world early
“I think being the child of immigrants, I think maybe hurt my understanding of how to be successful in the business world in America. And so I didn't do some of the things that my peers were doing, like internships, I didn't do those things.”