Timothy Armoo, co-founder and former CEO of Fanbytes.
Timothy Amoo
Timothy Armoo is a 29-year-old millionaire who got rich by selling his influencer marketing company for eight figures, but the young black entrepreneur had to overcome the odds to get success.
Armoo, co-founder and former CEO of Fanbytes, comes from one of the most deprived areas of south London and spent his teenage years living with his father in a fourth-floor council estate (public housing) in the borough’s Old Kent Road.
“That’s the poorest place,” Amo told CNBC Make It. “It was at the height of the brawls (British slang for conflict) in Peckham, Brixton and Old Kent Road, so it was in the middle of the gang war. Between 2005 and 2012 it was the South London gang war. Peak period.
london trust Southwark was listed as one of 19 boroughs with “significantly” higher levels of deprivation compared with England as a whole.
Armoo knew he was poor, but he had a strong entrepreneurial spirit and started his own tutoring company at age 14, scraping together some money.
He taught math to classmates, and as more students came to him for help in other subjects, he began connecting them with tutors he knew for a fee.
“I remember very clearly the first time I connected these two people,” he said. “Jane needed some help with chemistry and I connected her with Harry, who helped her and I got a commission of £5 (about $6.60) because[the company]charged £15 an hour.”
It wasn’t until Armoo won a scholarship to complete A-Levels at a private boarding school (the American equivalent of Advanced Placement) at the age of 16 that his view of wealth changed.
“I remember one day this kid was picked up by a helicopter,” he recalled. “It opened my eyes that there is a way to build wealth and you don’t have to be Richard Branson. There’s a whole world of people in between.”
He began to realize that “money is a tool that changes life” and the fastest way to escape poverty is to start his own business.
“When I was growing up on the Fourth Floor council estate, I always said to myself ‘This is temporary. This is temporary. This is temporary,'” he said. “I couldn’t choose the circumstances I found myself in when I was 10 years old…but at least I got to decide what was going to happen.”
Here’s Armoo’s story: starting out on a council estate, starting his own business, and becoming a millionaire before he was 30.
Your first business doesn’t have to be a “billion dollar idea”
When Armoo was 17 and still completing his A-Levels, he sold his first business, an online blog called Entrepreneur Express, for £110,000, which lasted just 11 months. .
“Everyone’s wish was to go to Oxford and Cambridge, and my wish was just ‘I want to make money, I want to get out of my bad situation,'” Amu said.
The 29-year-old interviews Virgin Group co-founder Richard Branson, The Apprentice face Alan Sugar and actor James Caan, among others for Entrepreneur Express , but making the blog profitable was a challenge.
Initially, he prepared a print version of his blog for adoption by college club groups, but as the deadline approached, he realized he didn’t have enough advertising to sustain the print version.
The young entrepreneur then turned his attention to advertising on his online blog. “That’s where I’ve been successful,” he said.
His “hack,” he said, was to distribute blog content through viral social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook, such as meme pages and feel-good quote pages.
Armoo packages these articles into social media posts with hooks like “10 Quotes…” that draw people from the post to his website.
“The way we make money is two things: one is programmatic advertising — So just banner ads, but I’ll also sell sponsored ad space to tax firms, law firms, and accounting firms so they can get a direct ROI.
Amo says your first business doesn’t need to be a “billion-dollar idea.” Instead, “Your first business should get you onto your first rung on the money ladder.”
He echoes the late investment guru’s advice Charlie Munger Who says making your first $100,000 is the hardest? “But you have to do it.
Armoo agrees: “If you optimize for the first £100,000 … You’re struggling, you’re crazy about it, and life becomes easier because then you know some of the playbook… Now, at least, you have a financial cushion to make less risky choices.
“You can build wealth by selling your business”
Armoo co-founded Fanbytes in 2017 with Ambrose Cooke and Mitchell Fasanya.
Tim Amoo
Armoo considers itself an early pioneer in an emerging field Creator Economy Industry since he co-founded influencer marketing company Fanbytes in 2017 with Ambrose Cooke and Mitchell Fasanya.
Fanbytes’ goal was to connect brands with influencers for advertising campaigns — a popular marketing tactic at the time as companies transitioned from traditional advertising to leveraging influencers on social media to sell products.
Armoo says its strategy is working, with Fanbytes amassing high-profile clients from Nike, Samsung, Amazon and ITV.
According to CNBC, a 2016 study by TapInfluence found that social media influencer marketing is 11 times more effective than banner ads on websites, which is why brands are flocking to influencers.
“I saw the rise of influencer marketing in the U.S.,” says Armoo, who decided to replicate the idea in the U.K.
Amo suggests that as an entrepreneur, you don’t always need to invent something new, but instead, you can “fill an existing need.”
The company raised funds in “bits and pieces” at various stages Funding of £2 million was eventually raised.
“The first investment was probably G15, then G40, then G120, then G300, then G600,” Armoo said.
His work with Fanbytes landed him on Forbes 30 Under 30 Soon after it went public in October 2021, people who wanted to buy Fanbytes started making offers.
He then appointed a bank to coordinate the deal for the company, which subsequently found six companies interested in acquiring Fanbytes.
Armoo, then 27, and his co-founder Sell In May 2022, Fanbytes struck an eight-figure deal with global digital marketing agency Brainlabs, making them both multi-millionaires.
“The goal is always to build something that can be sold,” Amu said. “I had a conversation with this guy once when I was first starting out, and he said you can make money running a business, but you can build wealth by selling the business.”
Armoo always knew he didn’t want to run Fanbytes for the rest of his life.
“Fanbytes could have been selling shoelaces to frogs, and if I thought that was a business that we were building and the ultimate goal was to be able to achieve financial security, I would still be enthusiastic,” he said.
‘I never saw myself as a black entrepreneur’
Armoo and his co-founders sold Fanbytes to Brainlabs in May 2022.
Timothy Amoo
Black founders often struggle to raise funds. In fact, according to Crunchbase, startups founded by Black Americans will raise just 0.48% of all venture capital allocated in 2023 CNBC previously reported .
This comes after a decrease in funding to Black-owned businesses since 2020 following the murder of George Floyd and the social justice movement following his death.
Meanwhile, 87% of non-white founders said they face more barriers to raising capital than 79% of white founders. Atomico’s 2023 European Technology State Report.
Armor says it’s all about perspective and believes being black doesn’t hold him back.
“Everyone remembers the black guy with the beard in a room full of white people. Everybody remembers that, so to me it adds to the level of memorableness,” he said of his participation in events and investments. When talking about the interview experience.
He explains that you can either walk into a room and feel unsafe because not many people look like you, or you can trust that this factor will help you stand out.
“I’ve never seen myself as a black entrepreneur. I’ve always seen myself as just an entrepreneur,” he said.
“I think maybe I’m being too logical for my own good. I was like ‘Investors want to make money. This business is going to make them money. I’m going to show them how it makes them money.'” That’s it. , I don’t think they care whether it comes from a white person or a black person.
Now, as a 29-year-old millionaire, Armoo believes this worldview “serves him well.”
About The Author
