How Does a No-Name Advisor Win 13 Deals from the Birlas?
And what can you learn from someone who’s built a $11B M&A practice without ever selling?
Most people won’t listen to this podcast—because it’s not with a celebrity like Shah Rukh Khan or Virat Kohli. But they’d be missing out. This is the story of a man who went from earning ₹1,380 a month and sleeping next to a toilet in a workers’ colony, to becoming one of India’s top M&A advisors with over $11 billion in closed deals. It’s 90 minutes of raw wisdom from someone who’s spent 30+ years in the trenches.
This week, I’ve pulled out 3 timeless lessons from the conversation I had with Mahesh Singhi. I hope you learn as much as I did. It is pure gold!
How did a no-name advisor win 13 deals from the Birlas?
What happens when you walk away from a deal—four times?
Why do the best advisors never sell?
You can find all past editions here. Let’s dive in 👇
(1) How did a no-name advisor win 13 deals from the Birlas?
Imagine this.
You walk into the office of one of India’s biggest business houses to tell them they’re about to lose a lot of money.
You’re a nobody.
No warm introduction.
No brand behind your name.
Just you… and a file.
Inside that file is everything you’ve dug up on their company.
Not guesses.
Not speculation.
Facts.
You tell them:
“You have a problem in this division. If you don’t fix it, you’ll lose money. A lot of it. Here’s what’s going wrong. Here’s what needs to be done. And here’s how much time you’ve got.”
The Birla team looks at you—stunned.
“Who gave you this information?”
“No one,” you say. “I pulled it from the ROC.”
The room goes silent.
You’ve just told the Birlas—that you know more about their business than they do.
And you’re not done.
“We’d like a mandate to solve this.”
They laugh.
“We’re the Birlas. We don’t give mandates.”
But you don’t flinch.
“You didn’t come to us.
We came to you.
And we don’t work without a retainership.”
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“Then here’s my personal cheque. You can encash it.
But we don’t work without a retainership.
And we need payment upfront.”
That conviction makes them say yes.
That one mandate leads to a successful transaction.
That success builds trust.
That trust leads to 12 more transactions.
Today, Mahesh Singhi’s firm has done 13 deals with the Birlas.
All because of one moment.
One meeting.
One man’s unshakable conviction.
“If you don’t believe what you’re doing, no one else ever will.”
Lesson:
Don’t wait for permission.
Show up.
Do your homework.
And speak with conviction that can’t be ignored.
That’s how you earn trust from the giants.
(2) What happens when you walk away from a deal—four times?
One of Cipla’s non-core businesses was up for sale.
It was a complex transaction.
Too many stakeholders.
Too many advisors.
Too many opinions.
Mahesh was brought in.
He studied the business, the ownership, the structure.
And he told them clearly:
“There are issues here.
Fix these first—and we’ll get you the right buyer at the right value.”
But the owners didn’t want to hear it.
They had their own ideas.
They weren’t ready to listen.
So Mahesh walked away.
That’s where most firms would stop.
But not him.
Over the next 11 years, the business cycled through multiple advisors.
And each time, when things got stuck, Singhi Advisors was brought back in.
Each time, Mahesh walked away again.
Because they still weren’t ready to run the transaction the right way—in service of the business, not just the stakeholders.
Finally, on the fourth attempt, they let him lead.
No interference.
No shortcuts.
Just trust.
Mahesh ran the process from start to finish.
It took 11 years from the first meeting to the final signature.
But when the deal closed, Singhi Advisors earned 6x the fee they would have made if they had forced it the first time.
“We didn’t take a loss.
We waited for the moment that would create the right outcome.
That’s not a failed deal.
That’s deferred success.”
Lesson:
Sometimes walking away is how you earn the right to lead.
Patience is hard.
But when paired with principle, it always pays.
(3) Why Do The Best Advisors Never Sell?
Most people think business is about selling.
Pitch harder.
Push faster.
Close quicker.
But Mahesh Singhi never saw it that way.
He was clear from the start:
He wasn’t in the business of selling.
He was in the business of advising.
“Selling is a job of a salesman.
We aren’t salesmen.
We create a buying situation.”
It’s a small shift in language.
But a massive shift in mindset.
“We give advice.
We don’t take commission.
In return, we get fees.”
Push vs pull.
Force vs attraction.
Selling vs listening.
“Buying is more positive in attitude than selling.
The power of attraction is more difficult to handle than the power of repression.
Selling is doing it forcefully.
To create a buying situation, you have to be in the other person’s shoes.”
That’s why Singhi Advisors has more buy-side mandates than sell-side.
They don’t chase deals.
They create clarity, and let the right deals form around it.
And when it comes to valuation—Mahesh has a very different lens.
“It’s not a question of who gives the best price.It’s a question of who can survive the business better than the rest.”
Sometimes that means waiting.
Even walking away.
“If a firesale is required, we do what’s needed.
But if it isn’t, we’re happy to wait years to find the right partner.”
Because in his eyes, a transaction isn’t successful just because it closes.
“If you get the highest value for the business,
but the business fails in five years—
that’s also your failure as an advisor.”“We are never a seller.We are creators of buying interest.”
What’s a good valuation?
“It’s a price at which the buyer makes more money than the seller.”
If that number isn’t right, Mahesh doesn’t panic.
“The second buyer will be there.
Or the third.
Or the fourth.
FOMO doesn’t work all the time.”
And when you try to speed through the process?
“If a surgery takes 30 minutes and you ask for it in 20,
mistakes are bound to happen.”
Lesson:
Great advisors don’t push deals.
They protect the business.
They play long-term.
They let quality pull the right people in.
Because when you stop thinking like a seller
You become someone worth buying from.
👋 I’m Harsh. I build businesses and write about what I learn. Every Sunday, I share 3 short stories with 7,000+ founders and CXOs about what I’m learning from business and life. If you’re curious about what I’m building—or think we might work well together—here’s where I spend most of my time:
Ideals VDR - We help professionals to collaborate over sensitive data and run critical business transactions, such as M&A, smoothly.
Happy Ratio - Delicious, nutritious foods and drinks designed for busy lives. No fuss, just health made simple.
Marcellus Investment Managers - Where my personal investments grow. Their philosophy of investing in clean, honest, cash flow-positive businesses aligns with my approach.
Harsh Batra (LinkedIn)