As the Voxmedya team, we continue our interview series with the leaders of the industry with Doctor Sertaç Doğanay, the founder of Social Touch. After his 10-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, he has been writing, talking, training, and working in the field of social media and digital marketing, technology due to his curiosity in technology since 2010.
Doğanay lectures on digital marketing and social media at prestigious universities in Turkey; Digital Age, Literatür Aktüel, Reflex, and such as Marketing Turkey wrote articles in prestigious journals. In addition, Turkey’s leading social media site that sosyalmedya.co the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector edited by Dr. Sertaç Doğanay made special statements to Voxmedya. (August 2018)
🏂 Touch&Go 🏂
# Who is Sertaç Doğanay? How would you describe yourself?
# Which pathways have you set as your goal in your personal development? Which resources did you use?
# What is your first attempt? Are there any names you designated as idols?
# What are your biggest dreams and projects you want to realize?
# Have you ever regret what you have done so far and said ‘If I did this, it would be better’?
Voxmedya: First of all, thank you for accepting our interview offer. When we see the training you give and the articles you publish, we will ask you a few questions that we think are important for our awareness, as someone who loves to share and add value to people’s lives.
Sertaç Doğanay: You are very kind friends, thank you. I think titles, companies, and business relationships are temporary. What you add to people’s lives will be permanent in life.
Voxmedya: Who is Sertaç Doğanay? How would you describe yourself?
Sertaç Doğanay: When I wanted to be an engineer, I entered the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, which was my last choice, I finished school on time but I did not prefer to be a doctor. I worked as a marketing and sales manager in the pharmaceutical industry for 10 years. I worked with hundreds of people in four different companies and launched many products. Then they dismissed me in 2011. I decided to start my own business rather than returning to the industry. This was a huge risk because I had never run my own business before. Happily, he has been going for 6 years. I am above average positive and optimistic. I often mock myself because I do a lot of fun. In this way, I can push my ego back, which is the biggest obstacle to my development. I love my family life and home, I think it comes before anything else for me. I recently asked on Instagram and Facebook; If you had 20 million TL, would you continue to work? Around 35% said I wouldn’t continue. My answer to this is, “If I had 20 million ₺, I would probably start a few new ventures, work harder than today.” I can say with sincerity that I do not engage in any business or partnership that I do not like, and over time I eliminate what I do not work with pleasure. In this way, I can always deal with the things I love. I think the title of the lecturer at the university among all my titles is the most valuable. I have been teaching new marketing technologies in masters for 5 years.
It has been 5 years since I entered the digital sector, but I think I spent this period with maximum efficiency. First of all, let me submit your rights, I have many mentors who are 10 years younger than me in this sector. When I entered this field, I was 37 years old and I saw the technical knowledge of my dear friends who have not reached the age of 30 yet. Dear Aykut Aslantaş comes first among them. In fact, it was a Meetup Istanbul event series where we hosted a guest from the digital sector every Monday for 1 year so that I was able to keep myself up to date and know very valuable people. Let me not forget to say the name of dear İlyas Teker, I follow him with great enthusiasm and pleasure from all social media channels, they have very informative shares. Beyond these, I read with great appetite in digital marketing, communication, technology history, digital transformation, innovation. 40 Unfortunately, I have not paid enough attention to the subject until I was reading the book, I have a pretty good read according to the last 3 years, Turkey’s standards.
I have a professional speaking career as well as all my attempts for 5 years. I spend a lot of time and effort into this. 300 people come together, take 1 hour and listen to you, and pay you for it. This is my enormous responsibility. I spend serious time working on preparing more effective, stimulating, and inspiring stage performances. I am constantly updating both fiction and content, and I always try to be up to date because what I am talking about are technology, future trends, and digital transformation.
Voxmedya: Which pathways have you set as your goal in your personal development? Which resources did you use?
Sertaç Doğanay: I read books with great appetite, sometimes I finish a book every 2-3 days. I carefully select these books, it’s all about the functioning of the brain, digital transformation, and innovation. Although not very regular for in the Digital Age and Marketing Türkiye, I am writing and I try to follow these magazines. I am a Harvard Business Review subscriber, I read all of their contents every month. I’m following not a resource, some terms on the internet. I follow the 15-20 terms I am interested in regularly using Google Alerts. I follow Futurism and the World Economic Forum very closely.
Voxmedya: What is your first attempt? Are there any names you designated as idols?
Sertaç Doğanay: Social Touch is my first attempt. no one I take an example from Turkey. I am inspired by the lives of Edison and Steve Jobs, who did not give up despite all their failures and continued their way and achieved great success. If the two components of success are intelligence and work, the third is the ability to stand up to the challenges. Another person whose life inspired me is Elon Musk. He is a complete book-reading freak (in his childhood who read 12 hours a day) and thus doing things that could change the world.
Voxmedya: How is your working order? As far as we can see, you write and provide training in many areas related to the sector and manage your own initiatives. How do you plan your time?
Sertaç Doğanay: I continue on my way with a team of the most qualified and talented people I can work in line with the resources I have. I always take risks in giving responsibility and authority to my team and I have never regretted it until now. When they are running on the right side of the operation, I have time to develop new jobs, meet with our stakeholders, share partnership reviews, and read a lot. I am almost always concerned with my work, except when I sleep when I am with my family, where I eat and do sports. On the holidays we go together, I literally pull the plug and spend all my time with my family. Spending time on social media is not a hobby for me, unlike everyone. When I spend 2 hours on channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, I am fed in terms of work. I can catch consumer trends, current issues, street jargon. I am often invited to universities, career development days, and I try to attend all of them. It is a great chance for me to meet with young people, we have met you like this already.
Voxmedya: Have you had any breaking points in your professional life? Do you have any memories that you can never forget in your working life?
Sertaç Doğanay: Of course, it was too much. After installing Social Touch, we have had no customers for up to 7 months, we were unable to issue any invoices. We started to serve our first customer while my personal accumulation was about to run out and I was wondering how many more months I could continue. It is the day that I understand how important persistence is in business life. We entered a big concourse opened by a big company. We believed very much, we prepared, we presented, then the news came, we were eliminated. I sat and cried for an hour or so. Years later, I realized that it wasn’t just your performance that caused you to win or lose a conch. There can be completely different dynamics behind. It took me a while to see and understand this, but now I am much more comfortable.
Voxmedya: What are your biggest dreams and projects you want to realize?
Sertaç Doğanay: My biggest dream is to do a job I love with a team that I love a lot and I already do that, also I am the co-founder of another technology business. I teach at the university and often get invitations to career development days. I read the subjects that gave me the most pleasure and excitement, I am a columnist in various magazines. I earn income by saying what I know on stage. But there are other things I want to do. I’ll give innovation and entrepreneurship courses at one of Turkey’s most prestigious universities. Certain procedures need to be completed for this, of course, it becomes clear for several months.
Voxmedya: Have you ever regret what you have done so far and said ‘If I did this, it would be better’?
Sertaç Doğanay: Actually, we are talking about this in the “Failure Stories” events I have been organizing for a year. If you are walking on a long road, there is no chance that your feet will not get stuck. Knowing how to fall and knowing how to get up after falling is an important skill. I wish I had started reading an active book before, once in a while, apart from that, I do not have many others.
Voxmedya: Finally, what would you recommend to entrepreneurs interested in today’s competitive pharmaceutical industry and digital healthcare?
Sertaç Doğanay: Digital health is a difficult area than any other technological area. People or institutions you call end-users are different from other areas. Government, hospitals, doctors, healthcare managers, healthcare professionals, non-governmental organizations can become end-users. I recommend that people who know the balances and dynamics in this field get support, consultancy, and information. Initiatives in this area will operate, I suggest that they shouldn’t see as Turkey, the border. Google Ventures alone spends half a billion dollars a year on digital health technology under the Verily umbrella.
Voxmedya: Thank you very much for these enlightening and sincere answers. We were very pleased with this interview. It was a full interview where everyone who reached this interview would find answers within their own needs. We wish you continued success in your professional life!
The original of this interview was published in Turkish in August 2018 in Voxmedya.com.
user
Add comment