This week, as part of our effort to uncover and share with our audience some of the most distinctive and fascinating stories from the startup ecosystem, we talked with Vandana Tolani, a passionate woman entrepreneur, to learn more about her remarkable journey, vision, and plans for the future. She is the Founder and CEO of Convanto’s. Let’s take a look at her fantastic life so far!
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey as an
entrepreneur
I had my own Family Office in Singapore and Jakarta. I worked as an Investment Banker & Advisor to Family Offices and Angel investors in Jakarta, Indonesia, helping start-ups from diverse backgrounds, from Fin-Tech and B2B Tech all the way to consumer start-ups. I was raising funds for them & providing them with a range of services just as Convanto does today. After 15 years of staying in Singapore and Jakarta, I came back to India. I did investments for a bit, and then returned to the advisory. That is when Convanto was founded. Today Convanto is one of the most well-known boutique investment banks in India and led by a female founder.
Today, I am also a Venture Advisor with Loyal VC, the INSEAD-led Canadian VC Fund, having a core portfolio of over 160 investments in more than 35 countries. I am also a Partner with GSD Venture Studios, a Silicon Valley-based Venture builder.
Over the years, I have arranged Funding for start-ups & growth-stage companies in diverse sectors like EdTech, FinTech, Consumer B2C & B2B, AgriTech, Health-tech, Food- tech, Disruptive & DeepTech as well as non-tech sectors.
Please do have a look at my website for testimonials. I feel proud to apprise that I have been awarded as one of the Top 10 Women Leaders in Wealth Management 2021. My brand comes under the Top 10 Women Entrepreneur Brands My expert opinion is often sought by leading business news channels and publications like VCTV, and Business World, and I have participated in 100+ talks.
You can easily see them on YouTube and the VCTV streaming site. https://latoken.com/vctv/investor/1038 and www.convanto.com I am also connected with 300+ investors globally, picking up global deals while being sector agnostic. Our ticket size is $1-$50 million.
2. Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?
About choosing entrepreneurship over the job I would like to sum up with the popular quote of Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs perhaps summed this idea up best when he said:
“When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way it is. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it … Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”
Entrepreneurs don’t just want to change their lives — they want to change the world. Mark Twain also explained the lure of entrepreneurship best when he wrote, “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Being an entrepreneur gives me the opportunity to take a calculated risk on a passion. Entrepreneurship constantly presents new challenges. As I overcome the adversity in my business, it leads to personal growth as well. I love owning my own business because I feel there is always something that I can do to improve. Being an entrepreneur is awesome for a lot of reasons, but I think the most important and overlooked reason is that it forces a person to develop parts of their personality that make them more well-rounded and a better person. I think being an entrepreneur is great because the possibilities are endless. You can be as creative and innovative as you want to be, and the results are the most rewarding.
3. What was the vision behind it?
Convanto is a portmanteau of the words “Consultant Vandana Tolani” and it started seven years ago, in Gurgaon, Haryana. It is a boutique investment bank firm with a range of services aimed at enabling young start-ups – it provides them with services such as Fund Raising, Marketing & Growth Advisory, GTM Strategic Advisory, and value-added services such as building Investor Presentations and Financial Models. We at Convanto advise small, medium, and large enterprises on raising capital, finding their product-market fit, and implementing a successful go-to-market strategy, branding strategy and brand positioning. Unlike traditional consulting firms, we have proven our operational expertise in bringing money, creating value, and driving growth to help you maximize your results.
4. Describe the services that you offer to your customers and in what way they are unique?
We at Convanto provide a range of services aimed at enabling young start-ups – it provides them with services such as Fund Raising, Marketing & Growth Advisory, GTM strategic Advisory, and value-added services such as building Investor Presentations and Financial Models. We at Convanto advise small, medium, and large enterprises on raising capital, finding their product-market fit, and implementing a successful go-to-market strategy, branding strategy and brand positioning. Unlike traditional consulting firms, we have proven our operational expertise in bringing money, creating value, and driving growth to help you maximize your results.
5. What difficulties which you have faced or you are facing?
Coming back to India after 15 years was not easy, but I was determined to move on in my journey. I set up Convanto 7 years ago, a boutique investment bank led by a female founder. Determination is a quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult. I had to believe in myself and not others, and at one point I even had no support, but I was still firm on my decisions. The day I stopped listening to negativity from many people I found out that I was skilful, talented, and was doing things in the right manner, which was why I succeeded, not mere luck. When many doors closed many others opened, and it felt like God himself was by my side. I think looking for more solutions and less problems, and staying positive and happy, helped me overcome my roadblocks. Ultimately, we always must help ourselves as someone won’t always rescue us, and not giving up easily always helped me.
6. How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
As you know everyone has to deal with pressure, both in their personal and professional lives. In the workplace, this pressure often manifests itself in the form of tight deadlines, demands from your clients, investors etc.
Since stress is unavoidable, it’s important to learn how to channel and deal with it in a healthy, productive way. In doing so, you’ll not only survive tough situations, but thrive despite of them.
I do morning walk daily; meditation and I drink lots of water. When under pressure, our first response is to work harder and grind through it. But you can’t get out of the problem by doing what got you into the problem. Take contrary action by creating a daily habit of pushing away from your work for 15 minutes or more of “purposeful slacking.” Walk, stretch, breathe, meditate, be still and allow yourself mental and emotional freedom from all the pressure.
7. How do you market your business?
I think networking is the key to everything and good work spreads a word. I am on all social media handles as well.
8. How many hours a day do you work on average & can you
describe/outline your typical day?
I work for 18 hrs in a day. I do morning walk daily; meditation and I drink lots of water. When under pressure, our first response is to work harder and grind through it. But you can’t get out of the problem by doing what got you into the problem. Take contrary action by creating a daily habit of pushing away from your work for 15 minutes or more of “purposeful slacking.” Walk, stretch, breathe, meditate, be still and allow yourself mental and emotional freedom from all the pressure.
9. In your opinion what are the keys to success?
The number one lesson I’ve learned in my lifetime is that nothing beats hard work. Hard work outweighs talent and intelligence and is necessary if you want to succeed. This not only means working hard when things are going well but working harder when things are not. It means taking calculated risks and sticking to them, no matter how challenging they are. This is very important to keep in mind as an entrepreneur. No business is perfect, and just like people, they too have their faults, no matter how successful or unsuccessful they may be. Recognizing and accepting these faults as an entrepreneur, facing reality and doing your best to work around these faults is the best way to move forward and the secret to success. With time, I’ve learnt of the importance of adaptability too. How adaptable a business is defining its ability to stay afloat in the future. Being progressive in terms of keeping up with the ever-changing market is of great importance in an industry such as this, and we ensure that Convanto does its best to keep up with these changes.
10. What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
Every single person I know who is successful at what they do is successful because they love doing it. Anything can be done, as-long-as you truly believe it. We led with our conviction rather than rational, because rational said it was impossible. Find something you love and do it better than everyone else. Failure is a steppingstone to greatness, and we all fail. I read the book ‘Power of the Subconscious Mind’ and found it inspiring, and I practiced the law of attraction. Also remember that you will never be criticized by someone who is doing more than you. You will only be criticized by someone who is doing less, so always remember that. Successful people do not put others down.
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