Damola Ogundipe
CEO & Co-Founder, Plural
GET TO KNOW DAMOLA...
Hometown:
Lagos, Nigeria
Alma Mater:
University of Minnesota
Fun Fact:
I love to snowboard!
Q: What inspired the creation of Plural?
A: Unlike most software startups – where a founder experiences a specific business problem and then creates the solution – the inspiration for Plural was rooted in a variety of professional and personal experiences over several years.
My story began when I immigrated from Nigeria with my parents at six-years-old. From an early age, I was interested in global perspectives, politics and comparing/contrasting how the world is governed. Before Plural, I worked as a healthcare consultant involved with public policy, and I became increasingly frustrated by the lack of civic engagement in the U.S.
Then my big “flashpoint” was in 2014 after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. This culmination of life experiences, work experiences, and politics sparked my interest and passion to create something that could help keep people better informed and engaged about important issues in our country and the world.
Q: What are some examples of what the company is doing?
A: We leverage data to create easy ways for global citizens to engage and express their opinions on how they want to be governed. For example, we are currently tracking bills and policies related to data privacy, gambling, cannabis, and anything to do with infrastructure.
Q: What challenges you most at work?
A: Managing the hard stuff with the “emotional” soft stuff. It’s hard to constantly balance and understand different things that motivate different people on your team. Also, I have limited marketing experience, so I’ve challenged myself to become savvier in this area.
Q: Is there a specific book that has inspired the way you lead?
A: I’ve read a lot of leadership books, but a book I’ll always remember is “The Carolina Way” by Dean Smith, former head basketball coach at University of North Carolina. He had an amazing leadership philosophy and was also a pioneer in racial integration at a time when it was unpopular. I believe his coaching style is very relevant to building successful teams of any kind. Plus, I played football in college, so I naturally lean towards a coaching-style of leadership.
Q: What do you want to be your legacy?
A: I want to create positive change in the world. I don’t take for granted that my parents made many sacrifices to immigrate to the U.S. I feel indebted to them and want to maximize all the opportunity I’ve been afforded to make the greatest impact possible and make the world a better place.
Q: What are your thoughts on the talent shortage?
A: I don’t believe there is a shortage of talent. I believe there is a lot of great talent that has a lot of choices. Pre-COVID, startups were competing with other startups for candidates. Post-COVID, startups are competing with large, legacy companies that now offer the perks that were once unique to startups – plus, they can offer more money.
Q: Who gives the best business advice and support?
A: My wife, of course! She has always been the most influential person outside of the company.
Q: Who would you like to meet – living or dead?
A: I’d love to meet one of my ancestors from a few generations ago to learn and understand what inspired and led them to make important decisions during their time – and try connecting the dots to compare their generation to mine.
Plural creates cutting-edge software to make it easy for public policy data to be discoverable, interpretable, and collaborative.
“I don’t take for granted that my parents made many sacrifices to immigrate to the U.S. I feel indebted to them and want to maximize all the opportunity I’ve been afforded to make the greatest impact possible.”