Ajai Thandi ’09 Upping India’s Coffee Game with Sleepy Owl

Interviewed by Jayant ’23

Ajai Thandi Class of ’09 gave up his corporate career as an investment banker to co-found one of India’s most popular coffee brands, Sleepy Owl Coffee. In this interview Ajai shares how Woodstock School’s holistic educational approach helped him develop strong self-analysis and multi-dimensional thinking skills. He fondly remembers his time at Woodstock and talks about his many experiences of the dorms with some of his closest friends. Featured in Forbes India’s 30 under 30 list in 2020, Ajai describes his idea of success and his company’s ongoing mission of making coffee one of the largest consumed beverages in India.

“How would you describe your Woodstock experience?

I think Woodstock for me was one of the best two years of my life. I made some of my best friends at Woodstock and was fortunate to have been taught by some great teachers. I played a lot of sports, barely studied, and just had a great time in general. I was at Woodstock for eleventh and twelfth grades, and some of my fondest memories in my life are from that time. Some of my closest friends in life are from Woodstock, and I am very grateful to have been a part of the community.

“Looking back at your time at Woodstock, what would you say is your most favourite memory?

Back in twelfth grade when the dorms were getting renovated. They shifted all of us twelfth grade boys to Rokeby Manor. We were quite the rebellious bunch. We were very far from Midlands and had no interaction with our other classmates, so we would get up to mischievous things all the time. I remember a few things. First, all the boys shaved their heads in protest of being put in Rokeby in our senior year instead of Hostel. One day we went to school, and all the boys were bald. That was pretty funny. I believe a random guy started it, and it was like a domino effect. Everyone wanted to shave their head.

Second, in twelfth grade we were not given a Diwali break, and we decided to protest against that, too. We refused to leave our dorm, and so the head of high school, vice-principal, principal, everyone came and asked us to go to classes, but we just sat there silent. Another fond memory of mine is senior skip day. We did not have a senior skip day, but we decided as a class to get together and bunk. Some of the people that were scared went to class, but the rest of us went to Flag Hill and had a great day. Most of my memories about Woodstock that I cherish are to do with having fun and the different adventurous and rebellious activities we did back then.

At Woodstock the learning is not purely academic. You get educated holistically in a community of diverse students and teachers, and that opens your mind as to what life is beyond goals, grades, jobs, and money.

“What inspired you to start a coffee brewing business like Sleepy Owl Coffee?

After Woodstock I went to study in the U.S. at the University of Southern California. After that I worked as an investment banker at JP Morgan. I guess you could say that I took a pretty traditional path in life. However, I have always liked coffee. Ever since my school days I have had this fascination and love for coffee as a beverage. I was surprised that whenever I was home in India, the only options we had were instant coffee brands. So, I felt that it was only a matter of time before the whole coffee industry changed in India.

India has some of the best coffee farms and plantations in the world, and we are also one of the largest exporters of coffee globally. If you are sitting in a cafe in America or Europe you can order a cup of coffee grown in India. Nonetheless, Indian consumers never really get to experience that. So, I identified that as a major problem, and I as a consumer who was always looking for a good cup of coffee at home decided that the only way to address the issue was to create my own product. I got together with a couple of my friends, and we started this coffee company to just simply provide Indians with some good coffee. Luckily for us a lot of customers rally around our product, and today Sleepy Owl Coffee has become a successful brand across India.

“How was the experience of switching careers for you, and would you recommend it to others?

It really is a major career switch, but at the same time I believe that it is a matter of perspective. Once I went to college I was more focused on my studies and goals, and I really enjoyed finance as a subject. Also, after college some of the best jobs were in banking and finance. Investment banking especially was very tough. Given that I was quite ambitious at the time, I put my head down, studied, and made sure that I reached there.

Soon I started questioning and thinking about life. My journey in becoming an investment banker widened my perspective on life, what my purpose is, and what I wanted to do. I feel like such things come from your early days, and Woodstock was where I originally learned to self-analyze. It is where multi-dimensional thinking was instilled in me. At the point where I decided to switch I realised I would be doing a disservice to myself by continuing on my banking career instead of focusing on my passion.

From a young age I was very entrepreneurial and had a desire to start and run my own company – a strong business that would create value for not only the stakeholders involved but also for society and communities at large. Once I had this clarity I decided to move back to India and work on my life’s purpose of creating something of value. That was the drive, and coffee was just the means to accomplish that.

In terms of recommending a career switch, I would say that it is really tough, and it is not for everyone because it requires a lot of discipline and time management, and you need to be able to deal with high levels of stress. However if there is something out there that you are truly passionate about –the world is your oyster. Especially in this day and age, the only thing stopping you from achieving what you want is yourself.

“Could you tell us more about your journey in setting up such a business and how you approached the risks and challenges that came with it?

Given that I had a college degree and solid work experience, I always knew that I had a fall-back option. Once I knew what exactly I wanted to do, every day was focused solely on achieving my goals. There were ups and downs and effects on my personal life, but that is just a part of the process.

Setting up a business taught me a lesson in flexibility. Sometimes you may have an idea, but it may not necessarily resonate well with your customers, your team, or the market conditions. I also learned the importance of feedback. You have to take feedback and accept that you do not know everything and that you have to learn as you go. In school you get feedback from academics, grades, ranking, and report cards. Similarly in business you get feedback through numbers on a spreadsheet. And in life you get it through your personal triumphs and failures. It is about how you adapt and wear your failures on your sleeve. These are the things and reminders I feel were most important to me. They are constantly needed along the way. In business you are constantly challenged, and sometimes it is important to step back and remind yourself of how far you have come so you have more clarity on your vision and mission. It also gives you the courage and confidence to continue on your journey. This is especially helpful if you feel down. If you feel arrogant you can always compare yourself to someone doing something better than you. To summarize, focus, clarity, and determination are what helped me deal with risks and challenges while setting up my business.

“Could you tell us about any changes in your lifestyle and quality of life? And do you prefer one lifestyle over the other?

Running a business is a 24/7 job. There are two things to it. First, you have absolute control over your time, and it is the best feeling in the world. Second, when you are running a business you are the captain of your ship, and you need to be paying attention and be plugged in all the time. It is an oxymoron, per se. Whereas in a traditional job you clock in, you clock out, and you make sure your work is complete. The routine becomes very dull. For me my business does not feel like work. It is just life. If I am not doing it then I feel like something is wrong. I love what I do. Every single morning I wake up, and I am excited about it. Whether it be tough times or easy times, I always say bring it on and that I will deal with it. It is a major transition, from being on a day-to-day grind to being plugged in all the time. But the best thing about being an entrepreneur is freedom, and nothing is greater than freedom of time.

“Can you share with us one key life lesson you learnt at Woodstock that has been helpful to you and your career/ business?

The key life lesson I learned at Woodstock is to not take yourself too seriously. Life will give you enough opportunities where you will need to be serious, stressed, and tense. You can either choose to deal with it with a smile on your face, or you can choose to do it with anger and aggressiveness. Woodstock had this idea of life where you could get through most things without being too serious and wound up. Focusing on the task at hand, giving it a hundred per cent, and not worrying about anything else. This lesson has been incredibly helpful, and even just knowing that most things will take care of themselves allows you to live without stress and anxiety.

To be honest, success to me means happy customers. The greatest joy I feel is when people come and tell me, “Hey, I started drinking coffee because of Sleepy Owl,” or “Hey, I always have your coffee stocked up at home.” I am on a mission to make more and more Indians drink coffee. We are not a coffee-drinking country. We are a tea-drinking country. Anytime I hear that customers enjoyed our products … nothing is sweeter than that. I do not describe myself as successful. I feel my hard work has paid off in certain aspects, but I still have a long way to go. We are trying to make coffee one of the largest-consumed beverages in India. This will benefit coffee farmers and plantations across the country. So, once again, I still believe that I have a long way to go before I consider myself successful.