Sahil Deva, Sweden & India
At the innovative and fast-growing Danish property technology company LifeX, Sahil Deva is working as Head of Marketing attempting to expand the market even further for the successful startup. Sahil’s background in tech stretches back to London working as a Team Manager at the esports company Fnatic, to later working as a Marketing & PR Manager at the German London based software company Testbirds, to now embarking on the journey as the first Head of Marketing at the Danish-based LifeX, which is revolutionising the way we live.
“I am one of those international kids from all over the place. I was born in India and since lived in Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, London, and a little bit in Munich and Amsterdam, but primarily lived in Sweden and London. Having a dad being the General Manager of the Radisson Hotels, resulted in a lot of travel for my family. However, I went to university in Sweden and lived the biggest chunk of my life there, so Denmark is not too foreign to me.”
“Being the first Head of Marketing at LifeX is very exciting. I am the first hire dedicated solely to marketing, and so far, we have still expanded to over 70 apartments across Europe, and that’s without a proper strategic marketing effort. Imagine what we will be able to achieve now – the sky’s the limit. This is exactly why I was attracted to this position: the opportunities are endless.”
Explore: What career opportunities are you looking for?
London startups are preaching what Danish startups are practicing
“In the different London based startups I’ve been in, it has been very typical to strive towards the ideals of having a low hierarchy, values emphasising transparency, employee co-influence, and so on, but few of them will live up to that. Here in Denmark the startups truly live up to those ideals – the London startup environment is attempting to be what the Danish startup environment actually is.”
“Work-life balance, inclusive social environment, and high employee influence are values that the Danish startup scene not only believes strongly in but also lives by on a daily basis. One of the things that inspired me to come back to the Nordics is the working culture. In London, the working culture is much more rigorous, work-life balance doesn’t exist to the same extent, and decisions follow the top-down model more than anything else. I think London startups are preaching what Danish startups are practising.”
“A forced pressure from management you see in many other startup environments is something I don’t feel the same level of at all, in LifeX. Of course, there is still pressure because you want to achieve your goals and ambitions, but you don’t have that same type of pressure from the top-down as you see in many other countries.”
Copenhagen is the coolest city in the Nordics
“My girlfriend and I looked towards Copenhagen, while we’re both familiar with the city and the culture. My girlfriend is German, and I lived in Sweden most of my life, so we both had a clear idea of how it would be moving here. With Brexit lurking around the corner and the fact that none of us imagined staying in London in the long run, we thought that 2020 was the perfect time to make the move. The Nordic socialistic mindset appeals to us and suits both of us – and also, don’t tell Sweden, but Copenhagen is the coolest city in the Nordics. The food, design, and culture scenes are booming and on top of that we relate really well to the Danish people.”
“An important factor is also the extremely well organised infrastructure and support from the government you find here. There is an incredible support system for everyone, of course, you pay some back through your taxes, but you are so well taken care of. I thought it would be a pipedream before coming here, but it is really great.”
Explore: PropTech in Denmark.
