How to Understand your Users with Shivani Siroya of Tala

Shivani Siroya started Tala not because she wanted to build a
company, but because one problem consumed her thoughts: 4 billion
people were excluded from the traditional banking system and lacked
access to essential financial tools to help them use, protect, and
grow their money. After conducting over 3,500 interviews with
micro-entrepreneurs globally during her time at the UN Population
Fund, she witnessed firsthand the vast purchasing power overlooked
by traditional financial institutions. So in 2011, she founded
Tala, the first holistic financial platform designed uniquely for
the global majority. Today, Tala is responsible for originating
over $5 billion in credit access to a population that was
previously blocked from traditional banking resources. Shivani
shares how she reimagined traditional credit underwriting to serve
a new population, why user experience needs to be at the heart of
product development, and how Tala gained the trust of a population
that was traditionally turned away.