Niran Vinod: Digital Creativity, Building Online Brands, and Putting Yourself Out There On The Internet
The Ben & Tony Podcast: Episode 7. New episode every Wednesday & Saturday.
Welcome to Episode 7 of the Ben & Tony Podcast, where the world’s most interesting people tell their stories of transformation!
Niran Vinod is the Co-Founder and Creative Director at Deft, a consultancy that helps quickly scale digital businesses into global brands by supercharging their creative and media. Listen to his story here:
Anthony’s Take:
Niran’s life exemplifies modern digital media, advertising, and marketing. Since he was a teenager, Niran seemed destined to create and design--I still can’t believe that he inadvertently created two huge publications (Soccer Eye and Yin & Ying) by literally just following his passions. Niran’s understanding of the digital world goes even deeper - he first met his wife through Twitter and almost every single job opportunity can be traced back to his digital social media profile! Building out a public brand on the internet takes a lot of guts and Niran has reaped the benefits of doing this. As a result, he has managed to balance his true passions with the financial pragmatism of a successful career. That’s something we should all aspire to, especially for people in the audience who want to pursue a career in creative industries. I know that if I want to get ahead of the curve in culture, media, and technology--I’ll follow Niran.
Ben’s Take:
Niran clearly just loves building, creating and making. He started young, creating football wallpapers. But before he was even in university, he was serving over 500,000 people per month. It’s no wonder he went on to lead creative for Instagram’s fashion & luxury space, and has most recently founded Deft, a consultancy that helps folks to launch & grow their digital businesses. I’ve just ordered his book ‘How to Build It’, which I’m very much looking forward to reading.
A bit more on Niran
Niran previously spent five years at Instagram and Facebook leading the luxury and fashion e-commerce vertical, as well as being a creative product strategist helping build creative tools for both big brands and small businesses. Prior to Instagram, Niran worked at a few creative agencies in London, including the Nike account while at AKQA.
Niran is also a published author with Merky Books, the imprint started by Stormzy and Penguin. His book How To Build It came out in October and covers how you build a brand in the digital age. When Niran was younger, he created two immensely popular blogs in sports, fashion, music, and art--and has always leveraged his digital presence to move forward in his career.
What did we talk about?
Creating massive blogs in sports, fashion, music, and art as a teenager
How becoming a father reprioritises your family life and career
How Niran both met his wife and got most of his jobs through Twitter
Leaving Facebook/Instagram to start a company in the middle of a pandemic
Putting himself out there and making uncomfortable decisions
Writing a book and the opportunities to build brands in 2021
Find Niran here: https://twitter.com/niranvinod
Find Ben here: https://twitter.com/BenHart36
Find Anthony here: https://twitter.com/AnthonyMcG2
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We hope you enjoyed this one & look forward to seeing you next time!
Your friends,
Ben & Tony