About

I founded five companies. I exited three.

I am Divya Gugnani. Serial entrepreneur, investor, board member and startup advisor, twenty-five years in. Mother of three. Still answering customer emails on a Sunday.

I co-founded Wander Beauty after becoming a time-starved mom and wanting beauty essentials that kept up. Today I am building 5 SENS, a clean fine fragrance brand built around feelings rather than notes. Complex human emotions, blended and bottled.

Before any of that: a B.S. from Cornell and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, investment banking at Goldman Sachs, then institutional investing at Investcorp International and FirstMark Capital. I learned how money moves from the inside before I ever asked anyone for it.

I am Founding Partner of Concept to Co. Over 80 investments made with my own money, and board seats at more than ten companies across very different industries and sizes.

A salary is survival money. Wealth is ownership. Nobody sat me down and explained the difference.

That combination is the only reason anything here is worth reading. I have raised the round and I have sat on the other side of the table deciding whether to write the check. I have signed the clause that made a company harder to sell. I have hired the full-time executive I should have hired fractional, and paid for that mistake for four quarters.

So I write the version I needed. The cap table math on one page. The five roles to hire fractional first, and the exact trigger to convert each one. The AI layers I put under a ten person team so it moves like fifty. Real numbers where I can share them, blurred where I cannot. All of it free.

Divya Gugnani speaking on a panel at the Tech AI Summit — **On stage**I speak on AI systems, cap tables and building a brand from zero. Always with numbers I actually ran, never with a stock deck.

Divya Gugnani in conversation at the Dealmaker Summit — **In the deal rooms**Twenty-five years of these conversations. Goldman Sachs, Investcorp, FirstMark, and then the other side of the table at Concept to Co.

On airRegular on CNBC, NBC and MSNBC, and on Good Morning America with 5 SENS. Comfortable live and unscripted.

Books

Pitch Perfect: A Founder's Guide to Fundraising for Startups, available on Amazon. And Sexy Women Eat: Secrets to Eating What You Want and Still Looking Fabulous, published by HarperCollins.

Elsewhere

I speak, mentor, and guest lecture at top universities and business schools. I have appeared regularly on CNBC, NBC and MSNBC, on Good Morning America, and on ABC's The View in February 2026.

ABC The ViewGood Morning AmericaCNBCNBCMSNBCThe New York TimesWall Street JournalTIMEBloombergVanity FairBusinessWeek

5 SENS partners with Bring Change 2 Mind on mental health awareness and Oceanic Society on ocean protection, because a brand with reach should be pointed at something.

Want to work together? Speaking and workshops are here, brand partnerships are here, and both go to my inbox rather than an assistant. For anything else, join the list and reply to any email. It comes straight to me.

Short bio, for press and event organizers

Divya Gugnani is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and board member with over 25 years of experience. She founded five companies and exited three. She began her career at Goldman Sachs, then invested at Investcorp International and FirstMark Capital, co-founded Wander Beauty, and now runs 5 SENS, a clean fine fragrance brand that captures your mood, bottled. As Founding Partner of Concept to Co she has made over 80 investments with her own capital. Divya served on more than ten boards and has appeared on Good Morning America and ABC's The View. She holds a B.S. from Cornell and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and lectures at Harvard, Cornell, Northwestern, and NYU.

I founded five companies. I exited three.

Books

Elsewhere

Short bio, for press and event organizers

The list is where I actually write