Community Finance Platform for Underserved Communities - Rodney Williams of SoLo Fund

<p>In today&apos;s episode, I speak to Rodney Williams, who&apos;s the co-founder, chairman, and president of SoLo Funds, which is a B-Corp-certified community finance platform that&apos;s now used by more than 1 million users. Members can borrow and lend money between themselves rather than go to traditional lenders, loan sharks, or banks.<br/><br/>EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS<br/>[01:16] Rodney&apos;s personal background<br/>[03:18] What other alternatives exist<br/>[04:50] How does SoLo work?<br/>[07:25] When and how do your customers use SoLo<br/>[08:56] Difference between Credit score vs SoLo score<br/>[11:50] Fighting the step crisis<br/>[14:27] SoLo&apos;s plan for the future<br/>[16:15] SoLo’s expansion to Nigeria<br/>[18:22] SoLo&apos;s approach to fundraising &amp; growing revenue<br/>[19:53] Investors&apos; feedback on the business<br/>[24:36] How did SoLo approach investors<br/>[27:53] How did Solo get to become<br/>[33:04] Undeniable product market fit<br/>[37:32] 10-year vision<br/><br/><br/>KEY LESSONS &amp; QUOTES<br/><br/><br/>&quot; You can&apos;t build wealth without growing it. &quot; [12:12]<br/>&quot;Subprime product, underserved communities, helping people that usually doesn&apos;t sound like a big business you’d want to invest in.&quot; [19:44]<br/>&quot;Our goal to market strategy is done right and do good because if you can&apos;t buy users, you need users to really like what you do.” [21:46]<br/>“A challenge that has made this extremely difficult is that the same financial system<br/>that has created the market that we live in today has created so much discrimination.” [20:30]<br/>“The majority of the group who use this predatory product, tend to be women. Women are taking advantage of these products significantly more.” [26:30]<br/>“All of the impact investors who have turned down Solo, I think they&apos;re a joke.” [24:57]<br/>“As we made the consumer experience better, our growth rate accelerated and that&apos;s when I knew it was an undeniable product market fit.” (35:01)<br/><br/><a href='ht