From maximum security prison to tech entrepreneur

Flikshop isn't Bullock's first foray into entrepreneurship. While in prison, he received his GED and started taking college courses, including in business and computer software. After his release, Bullock parlayed a job at a paint store into his own painting and eventually, building remodeling contracting company. Within the last few years, the Lanham, Md.-based entrepreneur has turned his attention to tech and the prison life he left behind.

"I was in complete denial," Bullock, now 32, recalled of his first few years as a teen behind bars. "I would call home Collect to my mom and say 'I'll be home in two weeks, because we have a game against Shady Grove.'" Bullock's mother raised him and his sister as a single mom, balancing her government job with college classes.

"I wanted to find a way to buy those Jordans my mom said she couldn't afford, so I could look cool at the basketball game," Bullock said of his decision to "chase the hood dreams" and get into drug dealing and criminal activity. His bumpy road into the app-making business certainly comes with its fair share of obstacles.

"I've faced a ton of adversity," said Bullock. "I'm a young black kid talking about launching a tech company with no VC backing, I didn't have any background in tech ... no one took me seriously."

Read more via CNN Business https://cnn.it/2PI7MSW