In this episode, we dive into the story of Gary Izunwa, the founder of Tangent, who is passionately dedicated to reshaping the landscape of career opportunities.

Coming from a low-income background, Gary is deeply committed to ensuring that social context does not dictate one's career and life outcomes.

Sharing his insights on the systemic barriers that often hinder people from lower-income backgrounds, Gary highlighted a scary OECD statistic…

It takes 5 generations - or 150 years - to move from the bottom 10% of incomes to average income.

This reality drives his mission with Tangent, an innovative employee referral platform that leverages video AI and a dynamic marketplace, democratising access to opportunities for all, not just the privileged few.

'The social context you're born into should not determine your career and life outcomes. That's the vision behind Tangent, making employee referrals accessible to everyone.'

What to Listen For:

00:03 - Introduction to Gary and his mission with Tangent.
02:09 - The problem with hiring current hiring practices
05:30 - The conception and goals of Tangent in democratising career opportunities.
10:18 - Working with an MVP and knowing what a good enough solution should be
16:15 - How Gary became who he is and how his upbringing impacted that
19:05 - Getting a job at LinkedIn and entering a new world
27:48 - Raising capital and how to do it heading into 2024
35:37 - The challenges of fundraising, the experience and doubt
38:19 - Business valuation and finding your benchmark in the market
43:55 - Tangent’s plans to upend the hiring market being mission first
46:26 - Gary’s biggest lesson, Founder friends over Investor relationships
50:01 - The future - facing ambiguity, continued learning and figuring it all out

Join us in this thought-provoking episode where we delve into how one entrepreneur's personal experiences are fuelling a movement towards a fairer and more inclusive professional world.

Connect with Gary:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/garyizunwa
Twitter: twitter.com/gizunwa
Website: www.jointangent.com/

Connect with Stuart:
LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/stuartgdale
Website: www.stuartdale.com