The Gathering Spot (TGS) was once again the place to be this evening (4/11/2022) as Atlanta continues to grow exponentially in the Tech world. The 3 powerful men who took the stage represented 3 different facets of Atlanta’s extraordinary Black tech scene. TGS founder Ryan Wilson moderated an engaging conversation with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens (AKA “The Tech Mayor”) and Babatope ‘Tope” Awotona, founder and CEO of Atlanta based tech unicorn Calendly.
“Unicorn status” is only given to start-ups that get valued at over $1 billion. Calendly was valued at $3 billion when investors put in $350 million last year for a small piece of the company. Awotona started Calendly using his own 401K funds and credit cards and this year they have revenues of over $100 million. He was recently on the cover of Forbes magazine and is one of only two Black people in tech worth over $1 billion.
Ryan Wilson and business partner TK Petersen founded the highly successful Gathering Spot 6 years ago as a private membership club catering to Black culture. TGS features co-working space, event space, a restaurant, etc., and brings together a diverse collection of entrepreneurs, creatives, executives and business professionals. They’ve recently added a club in Washington DC and their new club in Los Angeles opens in a matter of weeks.
Ryan was the moderator and asked questions of both our very popular Mayor and Mr Atowona. The crowd included many from the tech ecosystem including techpreneurs, investors, business coaches and educators. All in attendance received insightful knowledge and lessons they can apply in their business and professional life.
