FROM THE BUSTLING streets of Mumbai to founding her own investment firm, Anjali Agarwal's journey exemplifies resilience and strategic vision in the hospitality real estate sector. As co-founder of Bristlecone Capital, she's now leveraging her 25+ years of expertise to capitalize on overlooked opportunities in outdoor-oriented markets.
"I'm a minority because I'm a woman, because I'm a person of color, and because I'm an immigrant," Anjali acknowledges to the Women of Color Power List 2025. Yet these unique perspectives have become her strength in an industry dominated by homogeneous voices. "My experiences are different than someone else's, and I bring that unique perspective to the table, and people want to hear that."
Anjali's career has been defined by strategic pivots in challenging times. After 9/11 eliminated her position at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare just months after moving to the U.S., she returned to India determined. "I decided I really needed to make myself so indispensable and have such a big impact and not let an external event like that shape my career," she recalls. Within a week, she joined the pre-opening team at JW Marriott Mumbai.
Her resilience paid off. After earning her Master's from Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, she joined Chartres Lodging, rising from analyst to principal and executive vice president. There, she successfully repositioned and sold assets totaling 6,000+ rooms, achieving a remarkable 65 percent internal rate of return and 2.6x multiple on invested capital.
As COO of AutoCamp during COVID-19, Agarwal again demonstrated her ability to navigate crisis. "We were able to not only get out of it, but be even more successful than in the past," she says of the outdoor hospitality platform.
Between 2002 and 2024, as the senior vice president of hotel asset management at Starwood Capital Group, she oversaw a sprawling portfolio of 42 properties or nearly 11,000 keys worth more than $4 billion.
Now, with Bristlecone Capital, Anjali and co-founder Chris Haydon are targeting unique opportunities in outdoor leisure markets. Their investment thesis capitalizes on secular trends including remote work flexibility and demand for authentic experiences, focusing on value-add, distressed, and selective ground-up development projects.
What distinguishes Bristlecone is the founders' specialized knowledge and extensive network. They've developed a reputation for sourcing off-market, mispriced assets through relationships with brokers, owners, and operators in outdoor-oriented markets that are often overlooked by traditional investors.
Throughout her career, Anjali has championed diversity while delivering impressive returns. A founding member of the leadership council at the Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco, an organization that helps marginalized and low-income communities, she remains committed to mentoring underrepresented groups. "The more we allow them to see somebody that looks like them in a powerful role," she says, "I think that can motivate them."
For Anjali, leadership means empowering others: "Hire the best people and then support them in achieving their best." This philosophy now drives Bristlecone Capital as it aims to revolutionize investment in outdoor hospitality.
