Yellow Metal | Rahul Boggaram and Nikhil Boggaram

Anjali Sosale of Waterbridge Ventures chats with Rahul Boggaram and Nikhil Boggaram of Yellow Metal. Yellow Metal is an asset-backed credit company that disburses gold loans in less than 30 minutes in the privacy of your home. Focused on rural India, Yellow Metal seeks to provide low-cost loans to small farmers and business owners who are otherwise not part of the formal credit eco-system.   

We dive deep into Rahul and Nikhils's journeys and the series of experiences and events that led to them to building Yellow Metal.

(1:09) Upbringing and early years
(3:14) Why gold loans for rural india?
(5:04) Rahul's journey after leaving home at 16
(7:10) 0 to 1 at Flipkart, Treebo, Groww and Myntra
(9:51) How has consumer app design changed in the last 10 years?
(11:36) UPI as the game-changer for rural India
(12:41) How did Rahul and Nikhil's paths converge during the pandemic in 2020?
(15:41) Early challenges in transitioning from a corporate job to a startup?
(17:15) The role of empathy in the goal loan business
(18:44) The story behind the name "Yellow Metal"
(20:22) Yellow Metal's customer service ethos since day zero
(22:43) Company culture at Yellow Metal
(24:37) How to hire people when solving for rural India?
(26:07) Parents' view on starting up
(27:43) A day in the life of an early-stage startup founder
(28:32) Transparency in gold loans pricing
(30:46) Building a tech platform for rural India
(33:12) 2022 and beyond