Hardware Podcasts

HIBT Lab! Tala: Shivani Siroya

How I Built This · 17 Nov 2022 · 34m

What this episode covers

Shivani Siroya, founder of Tala, explains how her work with the UN Population Fund in Africa and India revealed that micro-entrepreneurs lacked credit histories despite having strong repayment potential. She describes manually lending her own savings to individuals like a tile maker named Seema to prove that daily life data could predict creditworthiness. Siroya details how Tala evolved from this manual process into a fintech app that uses mobile phone data to score and lend to underbanked populations in Kenya, India, the Philippines, and Mexico. The episode covers Tala's business model, its low default rates, and its goal of building a global financial ecosystem for the underserved.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Tala, United Nations Population Fund, Grameen, U.S. Bank, 7-Eleven
Products
Google Play store, M-Pesa, GCash

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 30m

    Founder Feature: Tabi and Meena Hoshmand of Tursh

    Tabi and Meena Hoshmand, co-founders of Tursh, discuss bootstrapping their Afghan-inspired green chutney brand from their respective homes in New York and Los Angeles. They detail the product's development based on their mother's recipe, the strategic decision to hire an external designer to translate their cultural vision into commercial packaging, and their cautious, slow-and-steady approach to scaling into boutique retail. The sisters also reflect on the emotional journey of reconnecting with their heritage and the operational realities of running a two-person, side-hustle CPG business.

    Starting a product companyPricing, margins & unit economics
    7 chapters

  • Manufacturing Happy Hour · 43m

    How a Career in Manufacturing Prepares You for Entrepreneurship with Kiley Summers, Founder of SpenDebt

    Kiley Summers, founder of the fintech company SpenDebt, discusses his transition from a manufacturing leadership role at PepsiCo (specifically Frito-Lay) to entrepreneurship. He explains how the accountability and problem-solving skills gained from managing large-scale automation projects, such as an automated warehouse in Rosenberg, TX, prepared him for the rigors of starting a business. Summers details SpenDebt’s business model, which uses behavioral economics to help users pay off debt through micropayments added to everyday transactions, and shares advice on 'intrapreneurship' for those still employed at large corporations.

    Starting a product companyLeadership, teams & culture
    9 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 43m

    Founder Feature: Jesrina Arshad of PurelyB

    Jesrina Arshad, founder and CEO of PurelyB, explains how her personal health struggles led to the creation of functional herbal blends in a 'Pixie Stick' format, specifically featuring Tiger Milk Mushroom and Pegaga. She details the company's journey from a digital education platform to a product-based business, highlighting a successful pre-order launch that validated demand without upfront capital. Arshad discusses the challenges of scaling production with marginalized farmers, achieving profitability through a 5x ROAS on digital marketing, and plans for expanding into the US market.

    Validation & product-market fitCrowdfunding & preorders
    6 chapters

  • The Hardware Entrepreneur · 31m

    #002 - Empowering women in Nepal by a woman entrepreneur, with Anya Cherneff of Empower Generation, USA

    Anya Cherneff, co-founder and Executive Director of Empower Generation, explains how her social enterprise empowers women in Nepal to distribute clean energy technology. She details the company's hybrid business model, which trains female entrepreneurs to sell solar products to remote communities, and discusses the cultural and operational challenges of scaling this network. Cherneff also highlights the specific hardware needs of these markets, such as affordable clean cooking solutions and reliable internet access, while reflecting on the emotional toll of fundraising and cross-cultural management.

    Starting a product companyLeadership, teams & culture
    8 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 43m

    Founder + Funder: Anabel González, Founder of Good Bacteria and Hayden Williams, Partner of BrandProject

    Anabel González, founder of Good Bacteria, and Hayden Williams, Partner at BrandProject, discuss the investment journey of Good Bacteria, a rotating probiotic system. González explains how a postpartum health journey led to a pivot from a beverage to a rotating supplement, validated by cold outreach to over 200 investors and a referral to BrandProject. Williams details how BrandProject invested pre-launch based on the founder's story, scientific validation, and a 'sense of inevitability,' highlighting the importance of founder-investor fit and trust in early-stage consumer goods funding.

    Fundraising & investorsValidation & product-market fit
    7 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by How I Built This. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.