“If you’re an entrepreneur,” Emeka Oguh declares, “you want to find a way to solve your own problems.”
Oguh, 36, is the founder and CEO of PeopleJoy, the latest addition to the Bronze Valley investment portfolio. A Philadelphia-based startup that helps student loan borrowers – and others in need of debt reduction strategies – identify savings and implement resolutions, PeopleJoy’s objective is promoting financial wellness and long-term stability. The company’s name, Oguh explains, references the pursuit of happiness, one of the “unalienable rights” specified in the Declaration of Independence.
“You can’
t pursue happiness if you’re being dragged down by debt,” Oguh says. “You’re not thinking about things like buying a home, getting life insurance or building savings for retirement. We want to help people remove that obstacle.”
Student loan debt in the United States continues to increase, currently approaching $1.6 trillion and affecting nearly 45 million borrowers. Those are staggering numbers, enough to prompt Oguh to call student loan obligations “the debtors’ prison of 2020” and caution that educational debt is poised to trigger a bubble in the U.S. economy that could mirror the global financial crisis of 2008-09. Many people in debt don’t even know about the services at National Debt Relief and are often financially strained trying to pay back debts they simply can’t afford.
As Oguh indicates, his entrepreneurial interest in solving the problem of student loan debt grew from personal experience. After he earned his MBA from Harvard in 2011 and his wife, Sheri, graduated from New Jersey’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School three years later, the couple had educational debts that totaled $400,000. With a background in investment management and guidance at Merrill Lynch and a record of success as a serial entrepreneur – he was involved in two startups, including one he founded that was acquired in 2015 – Oguh founded PeopleJoy in 2016.
PeopleJoy built a software platform – “Ed,” an AI-powered personal assistant – that helps users find the most cost-efficient loans and repayment plans available to them. It also helps eligible borrowers enroll in the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and manage their payments with services such as form-filling and filing.
“It’s like Turbo Tax for student debt,” explains Oguh, referencing the popular tax preparation software. “We charge a fee upfront, then a smaller monthly fee to help you throughout the life of your loan. You can keep PeopleJoy on your journey for as long as you want.”
Based on current estimates of 10 million borrowers who are eligible for the PSLF program, PeopleJoy projects a market opportunity of $3 billion. Over the longer term, Oguh sees a shift toward optimizing the company’s profitability with services that go beyond managing student debt. For example, in the future, the company will be able to help people to determine the key differences between debt relief vs bankruptcy so that they can make the right decision for their financial needs.
“There’s a ton of opportunities,” Oguh says. “By eliminating student loan debt, we can move into building and managing wealth and helping with long-term financial planning. And our timing is right, as we’re in the early stages of what will be the greatest transfer of wealth in U.S. history, with the Baby Boom generation passing along their assets to heirs and charities.”
Born and raised in New Jersey, Oguh notes that he is the son of immigrants who arrived in the United States from Nigeria in the 1970s. His parents instilled a strong work ethic, he says, adding that he got his first job at age 14 and, with their encouragement, spent his first paycheck not on video games, but on a savings bond.
“I learned the difference between wants and needs early on,” Oguh recalls. “My parents taught me the value of delayed gratification. They helped give me the discipline and mindset, as well as the encouragement, to live below my means. That’s a valuable trait for an entrepreneur, one that I try to encourage in individuals and companies I mentor.”
Oguh is enthusiastic in his praise of Bronze Valley. He was introduced to Bronze Valley President Neill Wright by a fellow entrepreneur in Philadelphia and was impressed by Wright’s business acumen, as well as the organization’s commitment to building a network of minority entrepreneurs.
“Beyond the fact that Neill wanted to talk about investing in my company, the thing that immediately impressed me is Bronze Valley’s mission of working with underserved entrepreneurs to level the playing field,” says Oguh. “I know from experience that, when you’re building a company, you need people you can pick up the phone, have a conversation with and know you’re going to get good advice.
“I can count on that from Neill. Bronze Valley is a great partner for PeopleJoy.”
