Mardiros Daghinian: Reinventing Oneself in Times of Crisis

In the business world, crisis is not the exception: it is the rule. In Latin America, where economic and political volatility are part of daily reality, every entrepreneur must learn to adapt, endure, and above all, reinvent themselves.

My journey as an entrepreneur has been shaped by these trials. I did not grow up in easy environments or stable markets. I was raised in a family of immigrant merchants who taught me from a young age that discipline, perseverance, and creativity were the only weapons to carve a path forward.

Crisis as a school

Very early in my life, I became involved in foreign trade. I imported footwear, textiles, accessories, and raw materials for the food and veterinary industries. I built multi-brand stores in Venezuela and also exported agricultural products.

That path brought me many satisfactions but also confronted me with enormous obstacles:

• Rule changes that happened overnight.

• Economic instability that put entire operations at risk.

• Financial restrictions that made international growth almost impossible.

For many, those conditions would have meant stopping. For me, they were a school. I discovered that resilience is as important as capital, and that crises do not destroy the entrepreneur—they shape them.

Reinvention as the Only Option

Reinvention was never optional. Every crisis forced me to look beyond the immediate business. I learned that selling or exporting was not enough; the real challenge was how to move money.

I saw how companies with quality products and international clients lost opportunities because of:

• Payments that took weeks.

• Financial costs that reduced their margins.

• Lack of access to global services.

That was when I understood that my path was not only in foreign trade of goods, but in building the financial tool that would have changed my own story.

The Outcome: Turning Adversity into Opportunity

From those experiences, VANK was born—a fintech created not from theory, but from real-life experience. A platform designed so that people and businesses in Latin America can move money around the world with transparency, efficiency, and speed.

Today, looking back, I see that each crisis was not a brake, but a push. Every difficulty became the foundation for a greater solution.

Beyond the Crisis

My story is that of someone who learned that crisis does not mean the end, but the beginning of something new. Reinvention is not easy. It requires courage, vision, and the certainty that even in adversity, opportunities are hidden.

👉 If there is one thing I want to make clear, it is this: a true entrepreneur is not measured by how many times they fall, but by how many times they are able to reinvent themselves.