Some entrepreneurial journeys begin with a business plan. For Prasant Toshniwal, it began with a board game.
Growing up in Kolkata, India, Prasant was introduced to the stock market by his father, Mahesh Toshniwal through a board game called The Stock Exchange. What started as a childhood pastime sparked a lifelong fascination with investing. Inspired by his father's passion for the financial markets, Prasant and his brother, Shloke Toshniwal went on to establish their own sub broking firm, which today manages investments for more than 500 clients.
As the business became more established, another idea began to take shape.
"What if people could learn the stock market through a fun and interactive board game?"
While he had the vision, he wanted to learn how to transform an idea into a scalable business. He was looking for more than business knowledge. He wanted to understand how successful startups are built, how ideas are validated, and how entrepreneurs create products that solve real problems. That search led him to SMU's Master of Science in Entrepreneurship & Innovation (MEI) programme.
Learning Through Building
For Prasant, SMU's MEI stood out because it wasn't a programme that simply taught entrepreneurship. It immersed students in the process of building a venture from the ground up, with a strong emphasis on experiential learning and applying entrepreneurial concepts to real business ideas.
"I was looking for a programme where learning happens through building."
Rather than learning about entrepreneurship only through theories and case studies, Prasant was drawn to the opportunity to test ideas, validate real market needs and develop his own venture through an iterative, hands-on process.
The opportunity to develop his own startup while learning from experienced professors, founders, mentors and investors was exactly what he had been searching for. Coupled with Singapore's thriving startup ecosystem, the programme provided the ideal environment to challenge his assumptions, test his ideas and turn an early concept into a viable venture.
One of the biggest lessons he took away from the programme was learning to embrace action over perfection.
Earlier in his entrepreneurial journey, Prasant spent considerable time refining ideas before sharing them with others. Through MEI, he realised that the best products are shaped not by assumptions, but by constant conversations with customers.
Instead of waiting for the perfect solution, he learned to build quickly, gather feedback, improve and repeat.
That shift in mindset continues to shape how he approaches entrepreneurship today.
Turning an Idea into One More Trade
Those lessons became the foundation for One More Trade, a venture dedicated to making financial literacy engaging, interactive and accessible.
Working alongside his father, Prasant began redesigning the very board game that first inspired his interest in investing. They tested prototypes with clients and their children, listened carefully to feedback and refined the experience with every iteration.
Through MEI, Prasant was able to put entrepreneurial concepts into practice, using One More Trade as a real-world venture that he could continuously test, challenge and refine.
"The programme helped me define the real problem we were solving, validate customer needs, build prototypes, strengthen our business model and create a compelling pitch."
What began as an idea could now be tested against real customer needs, allowing Prasant to continuously refine both the product and its value proposition.
Today, the vision has grown far beyond a physical board game. Prasant hopes to build a digital platform where people around the world can learn about investing together through interactive gameplay.
Learning from an Inspiring Community
While the venture grew, so did Prasant as an entrepreneur.
He credits much of that growth to the people he met at SMU.
MEI gave Prasant access to a diverse entrepreneurial community that extended beyond the traditional classroom. His professors challenged him to think more deeply about the problems he was solving, while classmates from different industries, cultures and backgrounds brought fresh perspectives that strengthened both his venture and entrepreneurial mindset. Interactions with founders, mentors and the wider startup ecosystem further broadened his understanding of what it takes to build and grow a venture.
Many of the improvements to One More Trade emerged from classroom discussions, presentations and candid conversations with his peers. These exchanges challenged his assumptions, sharpened his thinking and reinforced an important lesson: strong ideas rarely grow in isolation.
For Prasant, the community he found through MEI became as valuable as the lessons he learned in the classroom.
Recognition That Validated the Journey
Prasant's dedication culminated in winning the Top Start Up Award, a milestone that recognised not just the venture, but the countless customer conversations, prototypes and iterations behind it.
For him, however, the recognition represented something much bigger.
It reinforced his belief that financial literacy does not have to be intimidating. With the right approach, it can be engaging, enjoyable and accessible for everyone.
Today, his ambition is to make One More Trade one of the world's most engaging platforms for learning about the stock market while inspiring millions of young people to build confidence in investing and financial decision making.
More Than a Master's Degree
Reflecting on his journey, Prasant believes the greatest value of SMU's MEI goes far beyond the classroom.
"When I joined SMU's MEI programme, I arrived with an idea for a board game. I graduated with a validated startup, a much clearer vision, lifelong friendships, mentors I deeply admire, and the confidence to build something that can positively impact millions of people."
His experience reflects the transformative nature of entrepreneurship: not simply learning how to build a business, but developing the confidence, resilience and mindset to bring an idea to life.
His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: stay curious, embrace feedback, take challenges head on and, most importantly, believe in yourself and your ideas.
For Prasant, One More Trade may have started with a childhood board game, but through MEI, it became the beginning of something much bigger.
