How Web3 Empowers Small Businesses in Emerging Markets | Zach Marks | Jia

In this episode, Jay speaks with Zach Marks, Co-founder of Jia, a fintech microfinance organization providing financing for businesses in emerging markets. Zach talks about his former profession as an English teacher in India, Brazil, and Ethiopia, and how it gave him the chance to encounter street vendors and understand the difficulties they face in accessing financial services. This motivated him to pursue a career in expanding financial inclusion in developing markets, which ultimately led to the creation of Jia. He shares why Jia is dedicated to promoting financial accessibility and inclusion globally, thereby creating more economic prospects for individuals, and why education is crucial to the success of Web3.

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Jia’s Social Links:

Jia’s Website: https://www.jia.xyz/ 

Jia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/comp any/jiaxyz/ 

Jia’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jia_DeFi 

Jia’s Medium: https://medium.com/jia-xyz    

 

Guest Social Links:

Zach Mark’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachmarks/ 

About Guest

Zach Marks is the Co-Founder and CEO of Jia, building a friendlier, fairer, and more inclusive financial world. He began his work expanding financial access in emerging markets at McKinsey, where he worked on financial inclusion across East Africa and South Asia, including a stint living in a shipping container in South Sudan providing microfinancing for farmers in the aftermath of civil war. Before Jia, he worked at the fintech company Tala, where he helped scale its mobile lending business from Kenya to the Philippines, India, and Mexico. 

Before microfinance, Zach taught English in India, Brazil, and Ethiopia, and served as a Fulbright fellow, a journalist, and a prep cook. Zach loves learning languages, eating street food, exploring cities on foot, and trying futilely to roll perfectly round chapatis. Find some of his writing in old pieces for the New York Times and a forthcoming book on chai wallahs, India's roadside tea vendors. 

 

You’ll learn about:

• Jia technology 
• The importance of the human connection & discovering the true need of MSMEs
• The status of adoption and regulation in Kenya

Timestamps

0:37 Jay’s intro

2:25 Zach’s background

10:10 On increasing web3 adoption

14:23 About Jia 

21:08 On web3 lending 

25:36 Building Jia

32:36 Building in the crypto winter

34:28 Early successes

37:31 Challenges when building in web3

43:26 Outlook for the near future

49:39 Contact

DISCLAIMER: yWhales is not affiliated with YPO but at this time only allows for YPO, YPO Gold, and YNG members due to privacy & confidentiality. Support and production for today’s episode was done by Truth Work Media. Nothing in the podcast constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on the podcast constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.

 

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