This Founder’s Journaling Obsession Made Tala an $800 Million Business
Shivani Siroya is transforming the lending market in developing countries. Just don’t call her an introvert.
Shivani Siroya, the founder and CEO of fintech startup Tala, doesn’t need a lecture on how credit works from her Uber driver, but that’s exactly what she’s getting one sunny September morning on the way to her Santa Monica office. “It’s best to spread debt over three cards,” explains the driver, a thirtysomething actor type with a smoky voice who has thoroughly inserted herself into the interview I’m trying to conduct in the back seat. Siroya, 37, who’s as petite as she is precise in gesture and speech, listens thoughtfully while stroking Sadie, the massive goldendoodle who often accompanies Siroya or her husband, Chet Devaskar, a lawyer at YouTube, to work. “What did you do before you worked for Uber?” Siroya asks our driver with genuine curiosity. As the driver launches into a long angry rant about her former work in the wholesale lending industry, Siroya is leaning forward, attentively, despite the fact that she’s practically a lending savant.
Siroya founded her company in 2011 to lend to customers in developing countries who traditional banks won’t help. With backing from heavyweights like PayPal, Chris Sacca’s…
