One of the amazing things about Nigerians is that when a Nigerian excels in any field of human endeavor, that field becomes attractive to other Nigerians. That’s why Tope Awotona’s rise as a billionaire technology entrepreneur in the United States is noteworthy.
Last week, the news that Calendly founder and CEO Awotona had emerged as a billionaire was widely shared on social media.nevertheless forbes reported this story in 2022, but it sounded fresh when it was shared last week.according to forbes, In 2021, scheduling tool company Calendly raised $350 million in funding from OpenView Venture Partners and Iconiq Capital, boosting its valuation to $3 billion. As a result, Mr. Awotona’s stock in the company soared to more than $1 billion, making him one of only two black tech billionaires in the United States. Although Calendly has big competitors like Square, Microsoft, Doodle, and Google, it is very popular in the corporate world.
Awotona is not Nigeria’s first billionaire. But what’s surprising about his meteoric rise is that he accomplished his entrepreneurial feats as a US-based immigrant who grew up in Nigeria and immigrated to the US as a teenager. Additionally, he was technically excellent. He is recorded as the wealthiest African immigrant in the United States. As of Sunday, January 28, 2024, forbes His real-time worth is estimated at $1.2 billion, making him the 2,284th richest man in the world.
Mr. Awotona, 42, has started three businesses in the United States, but they are said to have failed. Ultimately, the frustration he faced trying to set up meetings as a salesman inspired him to create a platform that would allow him to set up meetings seamlessly. He invested $200,000 of his savings and credit into this business and grew it to success.
His success has opened a new chapter for Nigerians all over the world, especially in North America and Europe. The list of US billionaires proves to be not exclusive to whites and Asians. It also became clear that Nigerian immigrants are not only suited for employee roles, nor are they excluded from starting IT-related businesses.
As large as the economies of North America and Europe, immigrants from Nigeria and Africa and their children play on the periphery. Despite the challenges in Africa’s economy, it seems easier for Africans to become millionaires while doing business in Africa than abroad. Undoubtedly, factors such as environment, race, etc. may have played a role, but the need to play it safe may also have played a role. Nigerian professionals such as doctors and technical experts can earn very attractive salaries when they move abroad. When this money is converted into naira, it becomes very expensive, and more things are purchased in Nigeria than the dollar equivalent in the United States. Professionals in other less lucrative fields still earn enough to pay their bills, send money home, and live well. Nigerian immigrants feel fulfilled when they are able to buy real estate and invest in other areas that guarantee them a stable and comfortable future.
Because of this situation, African immigrants seem content to play it safe. The fear of debt and bankruptcy is the beginning of wisdom for many Nigerians. There are no credit cards in the Nigerian system. Typically, people pay for their purchases with debit cards or cash. Only large corporations and the wealthy have the privilege of buying things on credit or taking out loans.
Additionally, it is considered a stigma for Nigerians to be referred to as debtors, especially abroad. One thing that most European and North American financial consultants say about Nigerians is that they never want to borrow money. Western systems encourage people to buy things with credit cards to improve their credit ratings, but Nigerians will pay off their debts quickly to avoid “heart stories”. Also, they are usually too afraid to take out a loan to avoid falling into a debt hole that they cannot easily get out of. Even though the wealthy are said to be using loans to set up businesses and exploit legal loopholes in the Western system to make even more money, most Nigerians are afraid of falling into such a situation. . They cannot imagine taking on debt that would cause them to lose their property or declare bankruptcy. Such news will not be viewed well domestically. Perhaps all these factors have limited the success of Nigerians and Africans in the diaspora. But the success Awotona has recorded may inspire more Africans to break through that barrier.
Nigerians prefer career success with financial rewards. Whatever the profession, once these two issues are met, Nigerians will jump into it in droves. For example, basketball has never been a passion game for most Nigerians, including those living in the United States. They saw it as an American game. As far as sports are concerned, football (or soccer) has always been of paramount importance to Nigerians. However, the success of Nigerian-born Hakeem Olajuwon with the Houston Rockets in the 1980s and ’90s prompted many Nigerians to shift their children’s attention to basketball. Currently, up to 10 players in the NBA are of Nigerian descent.
Even if Nigerians didn’t have a passion for basketball, American football (which Americans and Canadians simply call football), because of the aggressiveness it contains, left them dumbfounded. To many Nigerians, it looked more like a war than a game. Interestingly, however, in February 2023, a Nigerian was a member of the winning Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl (the final game of the National Football League). At the end of the game, Prince Tega Wanogho, who was born in Delta State and left Nigeria in 2014 with the intention of playing basketball, ran around the pitch holding a Nigerian flag and shouted: ! ” Many other Nigerians are now playing the game professionally in the United States.
Another career that seemed like a joke was as a comedian. First of all, there was a lack of respect. Second, it’s not about making money. Ace Nigerian comedian Alibaba says his father broke off his friendship for 10 years after he decided to pursue comedy as a career instead of becoming a lawyer. Even though he sent messengers to his father, the soldier remained unmoved. Our first conversation was when he bought a Mercedes-Benz SLK and took it to his father in his hometown. Ironically, yesterday’s parents were mortified that their children (whom they had painstakingly trained in college) abandoned what was supposed to be an honorable profession and went into comedy. , today’s parents connect their children with successful comedians and help them build careers in comedy. The same goes for music, soccer, acting, etc.
Awotona’s success in entrepreneurship in the United States is also unique in that there is no element of “connection” or favoritism involved. Not to take anything away from successful entrepreneurs in Nigeria, but there is a notion that many wealthy men and women in Nigeria have become successful thanks to favoritism, especially from government officials. There is a joke that when a person with nothing is given a block of oil by a friend in power, he becomes one of the richest people in Nigeria overnight. But in the case of Awotona, nothing like that exists. It can go up or down depending on your efforts and luck. And when it goes up, it’s easy to see what went up. Nothing is hidden. Without companies, there is no wealth. There are no millionaires or billionaires whose sources of wealth are ambiguous.
Thankfully, Nigerians love the technology industry and have started many local technology businesses. Many people have moved to other countries in search of technical skills. All that remains is to enter the global technology industry. But it’s clear that Awotona’s pioneering efforts allow Nigerians and Africans everywhere to join the big leagues of the tech world. If Awotona can do it, so can Ejiro, Orisa, Dayo, Aisha, Kweku, Hasani, and Lerato.
– X: @BrandAzuka