30 Seconds With Dan Gandesha

Who in the business world do you most admire?
Founders who build resilient businesses over the long term, rather than chasing short-term wins. People like Warren Buffett stand out to me, not just for performance, but for discipline, clarity of thinking, and consistency over decades. 

What do you wish you knew before you started in your career?
There’s a lot of fun and reward to be found in the boring job of consistent, strong execution over a long period of time.

What is your career highlight to date?
The culture we’ve built within Onate, which is hyper-focused on our mission of delivering borrowers a fast yes or no, drawing down at speed and being results-driven. Not to mention, it is genuinely a fun place to work!

If you weren’t in your current profession, what would you be doing?
Something entrepreneurial. I’ve always been drawn to building businesses and would struggle to imagine myself doing anything else.

What do you do to relax?
I’m not great at relaxing in the traditional sense (hence no retirement envisaged!) and tend to prefer more high-adrenaline activities, typically involving an engine and speed. That said, one of my favourite ways to switch off is a family board game with no digital devices in sight. Our kids are 9 and 11, and the current household favourite is Throw Throw Burrito. It’s great fun - as long as you don’t mind occasionally being hit in the face! There may even be a loose analogy there for running a business.