There are thousands of personal finance courses in the world. Some are paid, others are free; some are online, and some are in-person, but so many of them miss a critical component: engagement. Personal finance is often thought of as boring, but it can also be downright scary. Since 25% of Americans don't have anyone to ask for trusted financial guidance, navigating the financial demands that come with adulthood can be overwhelming.

What if there was a tool that made learning about personal finance a breeze and incentivized its users to put those learnings into practice in their daily lives? With Zogo, there is. Zogo is a full-stack personal finance tool that emphasizes education and gamification, making personal finance fun and accessible. Shyam Pradheep is one of the masterminds behind some of the features that make Zogo stand apart from other personal finance tools. He's always been a motivated self-starter, but with Zogo, his motivation is channeled into something extraordinary. As a business development expert, he helped take Zogo from an exciting idea and turn it into something real, tangible, and effective.

Shyam Pradheep
Shyam Pradheep Shyam Pradheep

At 16, Shyam went to boarding school with the hopes of gaining independence and charting his own path. There, away from family and friends he had known his entire life, he became comfortable with a new environment on his own, locking in his independence and preparing himself for life as an entrepreneur. When it was time to start college, Shyam threw himself into extracurriculars; he viewed clubs as small startups and got the chance to shape organizations, conduct outreach, and complete strategic goals.

While working toward a degree in computer science, along with minors in statistics and finance, Shyam took an intern role as an analyst at Ebix Inc. There, he was improving analytical models and making the user experience more streamlined, but Ebix wasn't his only focus. Shyam was also a talented business development expert on the founding team at Zogo, a venture that started during his senior year of college.

At first, he was the director of customer operations at Zogo where he spent time hiring a customer success team, marketing team, and even a sales team, as well as tracking business goals on a regular basis. He used customer success as a tool to build Zogo's product offerings, working with over 170 clients to explore new verticals and expand revenue streams. At the time, Zogo was new to the market and had no funding; a small team of college students were funding the project with their own dollars because they knew they were onto something great.

Now, Shyam is the general manager at Zogo, taking over a leadership role from the company's previous CEO. He is responsible for business development and expansion, including product development, sales, marketing, customer success, and the education team at Zogo. Since he stepped into this role late last year, Zogo has seen 100% growth in revenue and quadrupled its user count. It has also doubled the number of B2B clients it serves, turning into a strategic tool for individuals and enterprise users alike.

Finding fierce independence at a young age helped set Shyam up for success as an business development expert, but when it comes to personal finance, no one should feel alone. His efforts at Zogo made financial literacy more accessible and more enjoyable by putting the fun back into finance. As people of all ages take charge of their own financial futures, Zogo will be there every step of the way. Behind the scenes, Shyam and Zogo's leadership team will continue to shape the product to meet its users where they are, not the other way around.