I BELIEVE YOU MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK
The Most Sought-After Sports Agent
Tell us a bit about your background. How did you start your company? What agenda did you have in mind when you began?
I was born and brought up in Bombay and am a Commerce graduate. I initially started working with my father in his garment business in 1996 and then realised that I wasn’t really interested. It involved wholesale production and export of garments to Japan, South Africa etc., and I am not the one who is into fashion and follows trends. My parents tried to convince me to get into the family business, but I couldn’t do it. I tried working there, but was very demoralised and demotivated 2 years into it. So one day I just woke up and said, “I can’t really do this.” At the time I really was at a loss of what to do with my life because I’ve always been brought up with the mindset that one day I would take over the family business.
As luck would have it, my elder sister married Sohail Khan. At a time when I was going through that transition of where I didn’t know what to do with my life, Sohail sat down with me one day and asked me what excited me. He at that point of time offered me the opportunity to work with him in his company called GS Entertainment where they were working on a movie called Hello Brother. I agreed and said that I would do whatever was assigned to me. I started working with him in 1998 and worked with him for 2 years. In those two years we did a lot of events – both Bollywood and international shows. I was basically a production assistant, so I did everything – from small odd jobs to travelling with the artists. I never asked questions and did everything I was told. I was paid Rs 5000 a month and given no special treatment. I never expected any kind of special treatment, nor did he gave me any. Everything was very professional and everyone in his office was treated with the same dignity.
He broke up with his partner in 2000 and asked me what I was going to do then as he was on the verge of becoming an actor himself. I did some research on the PR industry and there were only 2 companies – Wizcraft and Percept. Sohail knew both the owners and recommended me for a job. I got a job in Percept and started working with AdityaMotwane who was the head of entertainment at the time. I worked in Percept for 5 years and it was the best decision I could have made – the amount of exposure I received, the contacts I built, I don’t think I would have built all that anywhere else. In 2005, Percept started moving towards film production, something I didn’t want to get into.
Around the same time, (who has a company called Global Sports) approached me at an event and offered me a job. I moved to Global Sports in 2005 and worked there for 3 years. In 2008, I realised that I want to do more sports as I had been doing entertainment for the past 10 years and there were a lot of companies at that time covering the entertainment industry, but nobody was touching sports. I still feel that internationally sports is bigger than entertainment; it’s only in India that it’s the other way around. I decided right then that I would rather do sports now, before the whole world got into it.
I had a discussion with Mahesh, but since he never stays in India, by the time he got back, the discussion was forgotten. Yuvraj Singh then came forward and advised me to start a company of my own. At that time it never really struck me that I could actually do it on my own. I was scared, and so I had a talk with SushmitaSen, who’s a very close friend of mine. In 2008, I started Cornerstone with Yuvraj and Sushmita. I sold my one-bedroom flat in Mumbai and invested that money in my business.
The first 6 months were very difficult because sports were not really growing at that point and it was very difficult to establish yourself because there were already some big companies working on it. So with a team of 4 people we worked hard, very hard, in fact and God has been kind to us. A lot of hard work and dedication was put in developing the company, the rest was all luck.
So you believe in luck…
Yes, I do believe in luck. In fact I believe you make your own luck. If you are patient, passionate about your work, honest and realistic, it will eventually pay off. We signed a few clients and a few celebrities at the start and those people went on to become big. I think SonakshiSinha was our first signing in the new age. But now we have stopped signing Bollywood celebrities and are only focusing on sports celebrities.
Like I said, God has been kind to us – we have some great signings like ViratKohli. We signed him before he started playing for India and now he is the biggest brand in the country. He’s been with us since the start of his journey – that’s a great relationship we share.
What do you have to say about the future of PR companies or management companies?
We don’t focus on PR that much, we focus more on brand building – whether it is Virat as a brand, or Rohit Sharma as a brand, or Shikhar Dhawan as a brand, or maybe even a brand itself. In fact we have more brands on our roster than athletes. We ask them about what they want and we try to come up with economical solutions for them. So as long as you are honest with your clients and are upfront with them, work will happen.
What would you say about your evolution and growth as a person?
I think I am very lucky because in my teenage years I was lost and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. So I am lucky that I have a very strong family that has supported me throughout my life, especially my mother and Sohail of course in my initial years. I have made a lot of mistakes in the past whether it was with family, friends or girlfriends – I made a lot of mistakes in my life. But the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and I learned a lot. Now when I look back 10 years, I am a completely changed person and I’m very happy.
What are your other interests?
Work is my life. I love exercising, I love sports and I love to play badminton. I love meeting my friends – I have 3-4 childhood friends whom I love to meet. I am also a big foodie.
What are your future plans?
Sports have grown a lot in these years, but it is still growing. The market share of sports is still 20 per cent as compared to everything. I think the growth is going to happen in the next 3 to 5 years. At least it will come close to entertainment in terms of market shares – in fact it has already started happening.
I am very thankful to my team; I think I have a great team who is continuing to work for the benefit of the company.
What advice would you like to give to youngsters who dream to make it big someday?
I think today’s youngsters are more exposed to the world than we were during our time. With so many options around, it is now easy to divert one’s mind. So my advice to them would be just to stick to whatever passion you have.
Bunty Sajdeh started his own company Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment with two of his closest friends and clients Yuvraj Singh and SushmitaSen who were instrumental in supporting his decision and backing his abilities. By disciplined efforts and individualistic marketing skills, Sajdeh has put together a team at Cornerstone today that is perceived as a credible, versatile and out-of-the-box thinking Sport and Entertainment agency that exclusively represent athletes the likes of ViratKohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Sania Mirza, Sunil Chhetri, Dipika Pallikal and Miihier Singh among several others with offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. At Cornerstone, under the guidance of Sajdeh, the team are constantly pushing the envelope in the hope of revolutionising the sport and entertainment business, daring to go where no one else will with their new ideas, strategies and innovative thinking, in the process making BuntySajdeh (who is fondly called “Jerry” by star athlete Virat Kohli) the most complete and sought after Sports Agent in the country today.
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