The Business Pharmacy: Vihan Patel

The Business Pharmacy is open. Come on in! Here founders tell us what makes them tick and helps them thrive in business.

Vihan Patel is the CEO and founder of The Power of Music, a dating app that pairs people based on their music preference. Whatever their guilty pleasures.

Vlad Ignatyev (COO) and Vihan Patel (CEO)

Hi Vihan! We want to know, what's your 'prescription' for success?

Find a healthy balance. By healthy, I don’t mean the stuff you see on Instagram about work/life balance. I think that’s only for people who don’t like their work. When I say balance, I mean what matters to you most. 

What does a typical day look like?

• 6 am - Wake up. 
• 6:30 am - Head to the gym (already it makes you feel like you’ve done something).
• 8 am - Head home and shower.
• 8:30 am - Work and coffee.
• 11 am - Take my first call/meeting (never earlier!)
• 6 pm - Usually, I stop working and make some food. 
• 8 pm - Back to admin stuff. Basically, all the things that are not time-sensitive but need to be done.
• 9 pm - Shower and eat something (but not at the same time, I've tried it; it went terribly wrong!)
• 10 pm - Work on my other projects/hobbies. 
• 11:30 pm - Get into bed and watch TV.
• Midnight - Sleep (for about 5-7 hours).

What fuels your day?

Coffee, more coffee, and Coke Zero. My diet is really nothing special, I think I single handedly keep Deliveroo afloat! I like food, so I eat whatever my heart desires. 

The key to your strategy?

Try, try again and keep going. Failure is your friend.

Who inspires you?

• My Dad - the definition of hard work brings success and there’s no cheating it. 
• Alison - our Lead Investor, a lady of many talents proven by her ability to start a tech company (exit) and then a skincare company (exit). What can she not do?!
• My friends - the people you surround yourself with are super important, so all my friends inspire me in some shape or form. 

What do you try to avoid, if you can?

People who don’t value that you’re on your own journey and who don’t understand that support works two ways.

What tools make your life ten times easier?

A big monitor!

Remote or non-remote? If you had to pick one.

Non-remote. The office is one of the few places where people can experience that sense of community. As a generation, I think we’ve gone against our nature by trying to make technology replace human interaction.

Same again. Share scheme or no share scheme?

Share scheme. Your people need to have a piece of the pie for them to perform their best.

Couldn't agree more! Finally, what do you do to relax?

I go to the gym. And parties!

Thanks for your time Vihan, it's been a pleasure.