Mumbai: With another weekend upon us, it is time to unwind with the latest Q&A edition of Indiantelevision.com’s Weekend Unwind—a series of informal chats that peek into the minds of business executives through a fun lens in an attempt to get to know the person behind the title a little better.
In this week’s session, we have SoCheers co-founder & director Siddharth Devnani.
Having a Production Engineering degree along with an MBA in Operations, Devnani started his career interning with Tata Motors and Future Group (Pantaloon Retail), which gave him hands-on experience on the value chain management and helped him understand the importance of seamless back-end operations. In 2012, he joined Naaptol.com where he managed the operations of an entire category and innately curious, also took the extra effort to learn the nitty-gritties of e-commerce. It is at this point in his career that he started to consider the possibility of becoming an entrepreneur seriously, and finally took the plunge in 2013 when he partnered to establish his own social media marketing agency, which has since then evolved to a digital-first, full-service advertising & marketing agency.
In his own words, co-founding SoCheers was one of the boldest steps he took, and over the years, he has helped build the company to what it is today. From initially two interns to a highly skilled team of over 140 people now, from managing smaller accounts to running campaigns for global brands, Devnani has been there for it all, setting up the team, evolving the processes, and scaling up the agency’s offerings.
He also heads the finance team and is responsible for the revenue generation of the agency, ensuring the continued profitability for the organisation. Gradually, his role has grown to include establishing and spearheading the media planning & buying division. More recently, he was at the centre of setting up the Digital Intelligence & Analytics (DIA) division, introducing social listening and other data-driven services to the list of the company's offerings.
It would be fair to say that Devnani lives and breathes digital. Not only is he heading the technology branch of SoCheers, but he is often the person who can be seen foreseeing some interesting digital trends, which one might find in reports months later. This marks his in-depth knowledge and analytical mindset, not only for SoCheers but also for the entire digital ecosystem.
His excellence has been recognised time and time again by several renowned entities, honouring him with prestigious accolades.
Born and brought up in Mumbai, Devnani loves getting away from the city whenever work allows. He loves reading and multitasking, and you will usually find him juggling between the endless tabs he has open on his laptop.
So, without further ado, here it goes…
● Your mantra for life
Always. Keep. Learning.
● A book you are currently reading/ plan to read
I am someone who frequently goes back to and re-reads the books that fascinate me. One of them would be Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari. Every time, without fail, it just envelops me in the depths of who we are, where we come from, and why we do what we do. Another one is Freakonomics by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt. It explores the patterns in the world and discovers correlations which seem non-obvious at first glance. Simply fascinating!
● Your fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic
I have never been able to stick to a fitness regimen for more than 6 months, but I can proudly say that I took up Yoga during the pandemic and 2 years later, it’s still going strong.
● Your comfort food
All food is comfort food for me!
● When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going
If we look into the past, we can track that as a big picture, things have gotten better - life expectancy is up, we have more luxuries than our parents, there are more opportunities to grow professionally and otherwise – basically, the overall quality of life is better! So, in the end, it’s no use sweating the small stuff.
● Your guilty pleasure
Scrolling endlessly on Reddit.
● When was the last time you tried something new?
I’ve recently tried to adhere to a very strict “early to bed, early to rise” regimen to see if my body clock thanks me. And it does! I’ve found that my body feels more healthy and I’m calmer throughout the day.
● A life lesson you learnt the hard way\
Don’t aim for perfection, rather fail fast and recover faster! There's nothing more real than mistakes.
● What gets you excited about life?
New experiences. Be it in my personal life - experimenting with new cuisines, travelling to new places and trying new things to do there; or be it my professional one - exploring new industry sectors to work with, and integrating new technologies into creative executions.
● What’s on top of your bucket list?\
To learn surfing. I try to seek out different adventure sports in my downtime, especially when I’m on a vacation. And surfing has been on my bucket list for way too long now.
● If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Take bolder, more confident decisions.
● One thing you would most like to change about the world
I’d like to see a world where people are just more cognizant. Cognizant of the impact that they have on the environment, of how their words impact those around them and simply the larger impact on the society.
● An activity that keeps you motivated/ charged during tough times
Not to sound like a workaholic, but coming to the office. With such a young team, SoCheers’ vibe is always fun and energetic, and it just charges you up!
● What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?
Some outdoor nature time! My spirits are lifted simply by being around greenery, even if it’s just a neighbourhood park.
● Your go-to stress buster
Overloading my system with interesting and intriguing information is my go to stress buster, be it from The History Channel or Wiki pages or anything in between.
