Go Where There Is No Path: Stories of Hustle, Grit, Scholarship, and Faith

by Christopher Gray, Mim Eichler Rivas

For all who dare to go off the beaten track, this is the inspirational, power-packed playbook for transforming your life and your world—from a young, Black social entrepreneur whose dorm-room tech startup, Scholly, has helped millions pay for college and access unprecedented opportunity.  Christopher Gray grew up in deep poverty in Birmingham, Alabama. An academic star, he had every qualification for attending a top college—except for the financial means. Desperate, Gray headed off the beaten path, applying for every scholarship he could find. His hustle resulted in awards of 1.3 million dollars and inspired him to create a startup called Scholly, an app that matches college applicants with millions of dollars in scholarships that often go unclaimed. As a senior at Drexel University, Gray appeared on  Shark Tank  and, in the most heated fight in the show’s history, was challenged on whether his app was a charity or a profitable business.  Both, he insisted, proposing a new paradigm for social entrepreneurship and netting deals from Lori Greiner and Daymond John.   At the time Scholly had 90,000 users. Today the app has 4 million subscribers who have won scholarships totaling more than $100 million. Meanwhile, Gray has emerged as a tech startup superhero now tackling the crisis of student debt with innovative, unrivaled strategies. Gray’s story is proof that when you create opportunities for others, you enrich the marketplace for yourself too. He shows us, we can carve out new paths to better days and leave trails for others. 

Genres: Audiobook, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2021

About the author

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Sanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book, but only applies to America. Coming from Finland I just feel proud of my country: any education before university is free, and includes a free warm meal / day. And going to university, I got paid by the government.
Go Europe and especially Nordics <3

[Flannery Francis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The part about Shark Tank was interesting, but the rest of it was vague and repetitive. I would like to have heard more about specific students who were helped by the app.

[Kathy Cowie · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be reviewed in the Sept-Oct issue of Global Business and Organizational Excellence.

[Cassie Kitzmiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book thoroughly as a story of pursuing an idea to execution to success. Good pointers from a personal growth and business stand point.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is great!

A really enjoyed this one. It has lots of takeaways.

Happy Reading, everybody!

[C. Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it.