Team Tuesday: Meet our CEO, Dan Gandesha

Where did you begin your career?

“KPMG, in their Technology, Media & Telecoms audit practice (I’m referring to adult career, see last question…!) ”

What is the best career advice you’ve ever been given?

“Obviously not delivered to me directly, but Mark Twain’s famous quote - “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do” has been a powerful force, especially in taking the step to build a new business for the first time.

Onate is the second business I’ve helped to build, but this was still a helpful piece of advice.

Similarly as we adapt and evolve Onate, I keep this in mind.”

What tips would you give to someone starting in your profession?

“I characterise my profession as building companies and teams in finance and technology.

From that perspective, I would advise a focus on simplicity. Ask yourself, what is the one simple thing that this company or team is going to be great at?

In Onate’s case, that’s “delivering a fast yes or no & following through at pace”.

Knowing this core focus allows us to build our team, design our processes & select our partners with a clear vision of what we are all working to achieve.

It doesn’t suit many, but that’s ok. We’re focused on our mission and those that believe in it too.

It’s pervasive through everything we do.”

What is your greatest professional achievement to date?

“All of my professional achievements have been as a contributor to a team. I can’t claim to own the achievement personally.

I also see everything I do as a learning experience to take into my next challenge.

There tends to be a focus on recent activities as these are building on all the learning from years gone by. Within this context, I would definitely say the team we’ve built at Onate.

I enjoy my time at Onate enormously because at every level - our team interacting with borrowers & executing deals on the ground here in Ireland, our funding partners, our legal counsel, our Board & Shareholders - it’s a group that enjoys working together and clearly understands what we’re looking to achieve.

We’re rowing in the same direction. Which is far easier said than done.

There are always ups and downs in any team or business, but the foundation we have allows us to have more ups than downs, and work through the downs quickly and with good spirits.”

Tell us something people may not know about you

“When I was 12, I worked on Saturdays in a scrap yard. Safety standards weren’t great.

Tasks included reducing an old caravan to flat pile with just a club hammer and a chisel, and removing a gearbox from a crashed vehicle using an angle grinder.

The highlight of each day was a 6am bacon roll from the local food truck, where I expect food hygiene standards were lower than the scrap yard’s safety standards.

On the plus side, I knew how to put in a hard day’s work pretty early in life.”