Tej Brahmbhatt is an investment banker, capital raiser, and managing partner at Watchtower Capital. He is also a business coach and consultant, as well as a public speaker.
At Watchtower Capital, Tej Brahmbhatt focuses on running the firm and fulfilling the necessary tasks mandated by the job. He helps guide the company in “helping private companies/partnerships secure their capital needs.” The firm’s teams do their best work when they take the lead in advising clients, or when they serve as financial intermediary to other companies around the United States. At times, they also serve their clients as independent sponsor.
Tej Brahmbhatt manages a firm that is “built on truly leveraging and nurturing long term, winning relationships.” According to him, this focus on building genuine professional relationships for the sake of mutual growth “ultimately sets me and my team apart in this ultra competitive marketplace.”
Alongside Watchtower, Tej Brahmbhatt also works as a “business, client, & sales development expert” at TejTakeaways. He also takes his expertise and knowledge and shares them with people at speaking engagements. About his work, he prides himself on building “mutually successful relationships” from the ground up—through “cold calls, warm calls, or warm referrals from COIs & clients.”
Tej Brahmbhatt says that, for him, banking is only the “vehicle for living [my] passion: the art of building relationships.”
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Jerome Knyszewski: Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Tej Brahmbhatt: Appreciate the opportunity! I have been the “corporate bro” for most of my career. That said, I am forever grateful for all I learned at the big banks. I absorbed some great processes and efficiencies but eventually, my mindset (and potential client base) outgrew the rigid corporate barriers and bureaucracy. Once I realized that my following of professionals, executives and clients was ready to follow me (not the moniker on the building), I knew I had to go elsewhere to serve my clients better. The only way to do so was either join a smaller, more nimble institution or create one. So, we created one and here we are a few years later building while enjoying.
Jerome Knyszewski: Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
Tej Brahmbhatt: How long you got? Leaving the umbrella of a big team and virtually unlimited support was deathly frightening. It took me three maybe four years of discussions and preparation before I took the plunge. The first three-six months were the quintessential “sleepless” nights of self-doubt. I just knew that there was a need in the market for what I was offering and if I did not make it, it would not be for lack of genuine effort and grit. So, I stayed the course diligently and won our first big client within I think the 7th month. It has not been easy but certainly a slow, upward trajectory since that point. I have learned and improved more in the past few years than collectively in my career.
Jerome Knyszewski: Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
Tej Brahmbhatt: We thought saying no to clients early on would be bad for business. I felt that being new, how can we turn away business. So, we took on this extremely high maintenance client. Worst, they did not want to pay the usual retainer. We planned on putting in the first month of work (pro bono) and make it up on the back end. Moral of the story — never again. We realized that yes, while our company was technically new, my team and I bring decades of proven experience (literally 120 cumulative years). We just needed to believe in ourselves more and stand our ground which has served us very well since. That honest and affable but steadfast approach has helped to fortify our reputation (as well as my personal brand).
Jerome Knyszewski: Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to lead a company from Good to Great? Please share a story or an example for each.
Tej Brahmbhatt:
- Venn Model! What is your competency (the product/service/idea)? Is there a need in the market for said competency? Can you monetize that competency by converting it into a solution in the market?
- Passion. If you do not have a passion for what you are doing, you will run out of energy to continue through the good and especially the bad, eventually. When things go bad or dark (and they will for most start ups), only your passion and internal drive will keep you going.
- Marketing leverage: Tap into all potential resources whenever/wherever possible. This can be previous clients, external partners and vendors, people you worked with and worked for previously, organizations you’ve belong to and so on. Nothing like marketing from people you already know that can vouch for your business but also for YOU personally. Maximize each and every person within your personal network, this mandate goes for all employees. Imagine if we all leverage every person we know to help us, that is exponential power and output with only minimal input.
- Flexibility: If we have learned anything in 2020, it is that only those who can adapt and change will survive true downturns. Lean into your strengths with everything you have but constantly remain humble to build your areas of improvement. Bring an experienced mind but with a beginner’s mindset. That serves me well every single day.
- Integrity: At the end of the day, many ideas and ideals may be amazing, but it comes down to getting it done. The journey counts so much and I am a big believer of enjoying and learning every step of the way. That said though, from the client’s vantage point, you need to deliver, no excuses. We all know sometimes things do not work out, but it will not be for lack of pure effort on our part. Deliver if not over deliver (especially in the infancy stages on your business life cycle).
Jerome Knyszewski: Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. Can you help articulate for our readers a few reasons why a business should consider becoming a purpose driven business, or consider having a social impact angle?
Tej Brahmbhatt: An impact or purpose driven ethos usually indicates that the company does not exist simply to make money. The best companies of course make money, but they solve a problem for their client base. Now if you can solve more than one problem or better yet, help a worthy cause while building your company, that is amazing. For example, with a purpose driven model, the monetary aspect of the business is then just a piece of our value. We have been (slowly) shifting more of our focus on helping minority owned and women only businesses for example. We are a minority owned and run firm ourselves and hope to make our mark through helping others like us. Access to capital markets, especially for women owned businesses, is extremely limited and we would love to help be a part of that change.
Jerome Knyszewski: As you know, “conversion” means to convert a visit into a sale. In your experience what are the best strategies a business should use to increase conversion rates?
Tej Brahmbhatt: High quality due diligence up front and proactive follow through. If the client is not converting it is likely that they do not need your service (poor client selection) or they do not feel you are the best for it. Either case, it is your fault. Up front due diligence should weed out those that are not a fit for you. Conversely, if the client does not want to pay for your value, then you likely failed to create the bridge for them to realize that value. Maybe it was not time or maybe you need to adapt your approach better for a future time.
Jerome Knyszewski: Of course, the main way to increase conversion rates is to create a trusted and beloved brand. Can you share a few ways that a business can earn a reputation as a trusted and beloved brand?
Tej Brahmbhatt: This ties into client selection. Do not take on clients if you are not confident you can help them. Sounds simple but think about it. Would you rather pick a firm that has an extremely high close/success rate but with low quantity of deals OR a firm with a big number of deals but low success rate? Quality of client selection leads to quality of closed deals which leads to quality reputation of your firm.
Jerome Knyszewski: How can our readers further follow you online?
Tej Brahmbhatt: In order of importance:
Jerome Knyszewski: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
