Fora meet Shalini Khemka CBE, E2E

Decorative image — Career lessons with Shalini Khemka CBE
Fora member, Shalini Khemka CBE, outlines how knowledge, collaboration and community are the cornerstones of her career.
Written by
Cathy Hawker

Shalini Khemka is founder and CEO of E2E, an organisation aimed at building an ecosystem of world-class entrepreneurial support services to help founders scale their businesses.

Shalini arrived in the UK from India aged five and after university started her career in finance before moving into private equity. She trained as a management accountant at Coopers & Lybrand and worked for firms including Deutsche Bank, Bankers Trust, NatWest and as an Investment Director at LDC.

Shalini is a Member of the Mayor of London’s Business Advisory Board and was appointed CBE for services to entrepreneurship and the UK economy in the 2022 New Year Honours List. She lives in central London and works from Fora’s Thomas House workspace in Victoria. We asked Shalini to share the lessons she’s learnt throughout her career.

1. E2E is about enabling extraordinary connections

In 2011 there was great support for start-ups but less to help entrepreneurs scale-up. Part of our mission is helping share knowledge, to make that connectivity. My purpose is to connect founders of businesses to support each other and then build an ecosystem of services to provide support for the things that are non-core activities: access to finance, banking, technology, foreign exchange and, of course, talent.

2. Collaboration has played a huge part in my career

The way that E2E has grown is through collaboration with corporate organisations such as wealth management boutiques. Collaboration has helped us to grow and also helped provide services to our community of 24,000 members. Now E2E’s entire ethos is about collaborations between entrepreneurs, about successful entrepreneurs who have made it, sending the lift down to support those on their growth journey.

3. Knowledge is the elixir of life

The more we know, the more we can create change. From my parents, I learned that hard work pays off. When I was five years old and came to the UK, I couldn’t speak English, but I knew my 20 times table. My mum is an advocate of life-long learning. She ran the largest tertiary college in the UK, is currently Deputy Lieutenant of Staffordshire and was the first Indian woman in the UK to be made a Dame. My father is an orthopaedic surgeon. I believe the UK is a meritocracy, that this is a country where if you work hard you can excel.

"The more we know, the more we can create change. From my parents, I learned that hard work pays off."
Shalini Khemka CBEFounder and CEO, E2E

4. I am most scared of mediocrity

In my darkest business times, I keep reminding myself that failure is not an option.

5. Richard Branson turned me down three times

I came up with the idea for E2E in 2011 when I was working for a private equity firm who let me develop the idea in my spare time. The firm backed the Virgin racing team and I was lucky to meet Richard at the Monaco Grand Prix. I pitched it to him three times before he agreed to become the Honorary President.

6. I don’t like the term networking

I think it underplays the importance of building relationships and of regular maintenance of those relationships. A lot of people associate networking with just going to an event and seeing what you can get out of it but it’s important to build a relationship. It’s not a short-term thing. It can take ten years to build a strong relationship.

"I don’t like the term networking. I think it underplays the importance of building relationships.
Shalini Khemka CBEFounder and CEO, E2E

7. I would like my legacy to be that I made a positive impact on many people’s lives

There has been a massive opportunity cost for me from my career. I haven’t married and I haven’t had children. I’m too much of a workaholic. I do feel that E2E has already made a positive impact and that’s partly why I got the CBE. It is wonderful to be recognised but I have a lot more to do.

8. Community is critical in business

Community helps you make the right decisions; it can fast track the growth of not just business but also your mindset. Today, because of the internet, there is less emphasis on community which is why organisations like Fora are so important. Fora strongly believes in community and has a very open way of building collaborations with organisations like ours through events bringing people together.

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