Meet Vandana Tolani who chalked out her own identity in the world of business through Convanto

• ByStartupStory     |    October 5, 2021

A banker who had her own family office in Singapore and Jakarta and worked as an Investment Banker & Advisor to Family Offices and Angel investors in Jakarta and Indonesia, Ms. Vandana Tolani, decided to turn into an entrepreneur. After spending fifteen years in Singapore and Jakarta, Vandana returned to India and founded her own company Convanto. Today, Convanto is one of the most well-known and successful boutique investment banks in India led by a female founder in a heavily male-dominated industry.

Convanto started 7 years ago in 2014, in Gurgaon, Haryana. Convanto is a portmanteau of the words “Consultant Vandana Tolani”. It is a boutique investment bank firm with a variety of services aimed at enabling young start-ups to provide them with services such as Fund Raising, Marketing & Growth Advisory, GTM Strategic Advisory.

Speaking to Startup Story Media Vandana Tolani said, “Unlike traditional consulting firms, we have proven our operational expertise in bringing money, creating value, and driving growth to help you maximize your results. At Convanto we advise small, medium, and large enterprises on raising capital. We help them find the right kind of investors from the global market and implement a successful go-to-market and branding strategy and positioning. Our services also include helping enterprises with documentation, business plans, and value-added services including building Investor Presentations and Financial Models. Basically, we help the entire startup community and investors with their investment needs and help them grow as well.”

“Many of the deals that come to us are also from many other investment bankers who have failed to deliver and they approach us because they know that here we provide 100 percent delivery. The testimonials on our website speak about my works and the customer satisfaction that we offer,” she added

Take a look at https://www.convanto.com/

According to Vandana, its progressive and unconventional attitude towards business is what sets the company apart from other consulting firms in the market. Persistence was one of the key factors which helped her and her brand to grow. She believes that growth is largely related to client satisfaction. “I do everything in my power to make sure that my clients are satisfied with my work and over time I have learned that the best way for sustainable growth and success of any relevant strategy is to focus continuously on customer problem solving and feedback and improving the service which leads to successful customer experience and builds continuous consumption and trust,” she said

Her inspirations

Vandana has always been drawn to finance as an industry. Even in high school, she was always reading biographies and memoirs of entrepreneurs and business leaders to garner how their businesses started and continued making money and how they overcame moments of crisis or transformation. This inspired her intensively and decided her path in life. Some of the books that impacted her deeply and recommended others to read are -The Power of the Subconscious Mind, and The Lean Startup.

She also mentioned a quote by Dwayne Johnson which inspires her, that is, “Be unstoppable. Think back 5 years ago, think of where you are today. Think ahead 5 years about what you want to accomplish.”

Talking about her inspiration and reason to become an entrepreneur she said, “I choose this field because being an entrepreneur gives me the opportunity to take a calculated risk and do unconventional things. Entrepreneurship constantly presents new challenges and overcoming them leads to personal growth as well. I love owning my own business because I can direct the culture of my company and I can take decisions on how to drive my company to future growth. I always prefer working my way and for myself rather than for others. 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 outcomes are the most rewarding.”

“Being a single mother of two kids, running my own brand helps me with work-life balance. It also helps surround me with positive people who give me confidence and optimism to keep moving forward,” she added.

Milestones

Convanto is a sector-agnostic investment bank, connected with 300+ investors globally, having a core portfolio of over 160 investments in more than 35 countries. Vandana has given 150+ talks which are easily available on YouTube and the VCTV streaming site and her expert opinion is often sought by leading business news channels and publications like VCTV, and Business World. She has also been nominated as one of the Top 10 Women Leaders in Wealth Management 2021.

“I had a long and successful journey of 7 years with a lot of ups and downs. Determination is the quality that makes you continue to try to do or achieve something difficult. At one point I had no support but I was still firm on my decision and I had to believe in myself. The day I stopped listening to negativity from other people, I found out that I was skillful, talented and I was doing things in the right manner which is why I succeeded. I believe that when one door closes, many others open. Looking for more solutions rather than problems and staying positive helped me overcome my roadblocks,” she said.

“My first clients were Fintech companies and over the years I have managed financing for startups and growing companies in various sectors such as EdTech, FinTech, Consumer B2C & B2B, AgriTech, Healthtech, Food Tech, Disruptive & DeepTech, and non-technology sectors. Today, I am a Venture Advisor with Loyal VC, the INSEAD-led Canadian VC Fund, I am also a Partner with GSD Venture Studios, a Silicon Valley-based venture builder,” she added.

Making use of every opportunity

Convanto has a 10 members team operating from their office in Gurugram. Convanto strives to upkeep and maintain the team ethos at all times, by making sure the employees always feel welcome to voice their opinions.

For Vandana and her team, nothing beats hard work. She believes that hard work outweighs talent and intelligence and is necessary if one wants to succeed. This not only means working hard when things are going well but working harder when you face setbacks. It means taking calculated risks and sticking to them, no matter how challenging they are.

“We did a lot of work during the Pandemic, we closed four deals. we became digital throughout. And we advised our customers also to go digital because that was helping almost everybody. Many investments, meetings, and global events happened sitting on one chair. People realised the value of doing work digitally. So, we didn’t get badly affected during the pandemic, in fact, it helped us grow a lot,” she said while describing her company’s work environment during the pandemic.

Way Forward

We expect to do a lot more deals in the coming years. I see myself on the front page of The Forbes Show and maybe even receiving recognition for Convanto being one of the most recognised female-led investment banks. I would like to do more podcasts and come on more panels and webinars. I also see myself doing Series C, D, and E deals.

As a piece of advice to budding young entrepreneurs, she said, “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 in it. Always remember that one is never to be criticized by someone who is doing more than them but only by someone who is doing less, as successful people do not put others down.”

“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 one’s faults as an entrepreneur, facing reality, and doing one’s best to correct these faults is the best way to move forward and the secret to success,” she added.

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