Today’s Notable Young Entrepreneur is serial entrepreneur Kofi Gyekye, who has worked with big-name brands like Cadillac, HBC and Topshop. He now has his sights set on changing the world with his tech incubator, Usful. We caught up with him to find out what inspires his work and what advice he would share with other young professionals…
WORK
1. Describe what you do in less than 140 characters. Go.
Build attainable and functional mobile-first software solutions with a focus on sustainability and maximizing finite resources.
2. What was the inspiration for your career route?
My career is greatly influenced by the rapid advancements in technology and the possibilities of what can be done to improve our everyday lives.
3. What is the most memorable milestone in your career so far?
Starting a digital agency at 23 years old and growing it into a 40 person team is my most memorable achievement to date. After completing work for some of the most reputable local and international brands including Hudson’s Bay, TopShop, Cida, NY Times, CIBC, Sony and Rogers, I realized that I want to do work that improves everyday life in the future. The milestone in my career was closing down Little Room and opening up Usful.
4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?
As an entrepreneur, it’s hard to answer this question. We are constantly re-forecasting and shifting the vision of our company with the advancements of technology and society. My business partner Clinton Robinson and I do this with the Usful team on a monthly basis.
In ten years, we see Usful products and our philosophy as a household brand. We plan on being at the forefront of global decision making regarding technology and how we use it.
20 years: Elysium
5. Do you have any advice for other young professionals?
1: Try everything because you never know what impact or path will come from trying.
2: Be honest and polite in everything you do.
3: Never deny yourself the future you want.
4: Put in the work every single day.
6. Do you support any charities? If so, which one(s) and why is it (or they) important to you?
It’s important to contribute to our future. As a result, I focus a lot of my efforts on children and youth in underserved communities. Sharing my time and expertise in technology to solve problems in a sustainable and scalable manner. We have great causes in our own city.
I’ve supported The Remix Project for quite some time now. It’s important to me to contribute to the future of marginalized youth. Everyone deserves an even playing field. I also support Sick Kids. I either create a means for them to raise money, donate my time to get the proper technology set up or one-on-one mentorship.
7. What is one major challenge that you’ve had to overcome in your career? How did you overcome it?
A major challenge throughout my career has been bootstrapping our company. When you’re bootstrapping, it becomes very difficult to expand in a short amount of time. You see the potential to grow, but there aren’t enough resources. We still face this challenge. However, to overcome this we have become more aware of the value of small initiatives and have learned to be creative with how we spend our money.
8. What does the word notable mean to you?
To me, notable means having made enough of an impact to be significant and recognized amongst your community. It means being brave enough to maintain the perseverance to achieve your goals.
PLAY
1. Where is your favourite place to wine/dine in your city and why?
Food and wine are an integral part of my being. So much so that I created a consignment home delivery wine product (www.vini.co). Some of my favourite places are Midfield Wine Bar & Tavern, Cote de Beouf, and Campagnolo.
2. What’s the most visited website on your Internet browser? The most played song on your phone?
I am a mobile first individual; comes with the territory. I will say Flipboard is the app I use the most to aggregate all my web interests. I tend to save my laptop for work. The most played song? Purple Rain.
3. Who’s one person you think everyone should be following on social media?
For something so global, social media is exceedingly personal – it all depends on what you are looking to gain (laughs, insight, news, inspiration). Pharrell Williams covers a wide variety of topics that I am interested in such as technology, culture, fashion and the future.
4. What’s your favourite country to visit and why? And what’s the next one you plan on travelling to?
I love going to Italy. Simply because it is home and nothing beats it. Next place I plan on visiting is Japan.
5. What gives you the greatest FOMO?
Fortunately, I do not experience FOMO. I’m either meant to be somewhere or not.
6. What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
Gelato, I can never say no to gelato.
7. What’s something you wish you didn’t spend so much money on? What’s something you wish you spent more on?
I try my best to be cognizant of my spending, I don’t over spend but if I do, it is with close friends and family enjoying ourselves, so there isn’t regret, just great memories. I wish I spent more on travel and intend to in the next year.
8. And finally, what does success look like to you? Work, play, or otherwise…
I view success as having people use our technology and it actually working. I want to view our world and see that our products have changed it for the better.
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