Community Highlights: Meet Sriram Durvasula of Jiva Agency

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sriram Durvasula.

Hi Sriram, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in Andhra Pradesh, India, into a family that deeply understood the value of hard work. When I was young, my parents immigrated to the United States and we settled in Columbus, Ohio. Like many immigrant families, we started from humble beginnings — my parents worked tirelessly, saved diligently, and slowly built an upper-middle-class life through perseverance and grit.

While our home was always full of love and drive, it also came with high expectations — the kind many children of immigrants know well. For me, that meant pressure to excel in school, even when I didn’t always have the support or resources to meet those expectations. What I didn’t know at the time was that I had undiagnosed ADHD. In my early years, school often felt like running uphill just to keep up with my peers.

Over time, I learned to adapt — working around distractions, harnessing focus in short bursts, and channeling my curiosity into deep dives. That resilience became one of my defining traits.

Unlocking My Potential: Fencing, Nonprofits, and Scientific Research
By high school, I had started to find my rhythm. I discovered fencing, a sport that rewarded strategy, discipline, and quick thinking. I thrived — placing 3rd at the Ohio State Tournament and ranking 13th at the U.S. National Championships in 2016.

At The Ohio State University, where I majored in neuroscience, I fully unlocked my potential. I founded Buckeye STRIVE, a nonprofit focused on mentorship and growth, and scaled it to 30 active members. I conducted research in regenerative therapy and became a published scientific author on PubMed. I started college on a premed track, determined to pursue medicine — but eventually realized my true calling was entrepreneurship.

From Medicine to Startups: Learning by Doing
In 2016, fresh out of college, I made the leap from premed to startups. I began at an early-stage venture capital firm in Ohio, offering to work for free for nine months. That gamble paid off — I was offered a Partnership and became a Growth Advisor, helping portfolio companies refine their marketing, brand, and operations.

At the same time, I stepped in as CEO of Hansya, an AI writing startup that was years ahead of its time — a true precursor to today’s generative AI tools like ChatGPT. I raised over $300K in capital, scaled our valuation from $250K to $4M, and launched a proprietary content-generation platform for SEO and branded copy — back in 2017, long before AI content became mainstream.

Scaling in the DTC Space: Loxi, Lasso, and More
In 2018, I co-founded Loxi Hair, a DTC hair extensions brand, and grew it from $0 to $90K in MRR in nine months, with four consecutive months of 100% month-over-month growth. I built Meta ad funnels, Klaviyo email flows, and retention programs, producing viral content including a video with over 1.8M views.

In 2019, I moved to Los Angeles to join Lasso, starting as a Marketing Coordinator and eventually becoming CMO and Chief of Staff. Across my roles, I:

Managed $35 CAC, $90 AOV, and $750 LTV while delivering 4X ROAS.

Launched affiliate, influencer, and rewards programs.

Oversaw OKRs, GTM execution, and cross-department alignment.

Helped prepare the company for a successful private exit.

Driving Revenue Growth Across Industries
After Lasso, I joined Beige Video as Chief Sales & Marketing Officer in 2023, where I built a 9-person sales team and grew monthly revenue from $40K–$50K to $300K+ in under a year. I led social, email, influencer, SMS, and paid ad campaigns to create scalable lead generation.

I also took on consulting roles, including Sales & Marketing Specialist for Go Fund Yourself, a crowdfunding-focused TV show, where I built AI-powered sales funnels and optimized brand visibility.

In 2024, I became CMO for Re-U-Zip, an innovative dust barrier solutions company. Within months, I turned a $20K/month deficit into $25K/month profit through full-funnel optimization, performance analysis, and CAC reduction.

Jiva Agency: Turning Experience into Impact
With over eight years in marketing leadership and more than $10M in revenue driven for clients, I launched Jiva Agency in Los Angeles with my wife Radhika Durvasula. Jiva helps DTC brands and startups grow with ROI-focused marketing — blending full-funnel strategy, paid and organic campaigns, and AI integration to help businesses scale faster and more profitably.

Through Jiva, I channel the lessons of my own journey: adaptability, relentless execution, and empathy for founders. My immigrant upbringing taught me resilience. My ADHD taught me to innovate my own systems. My varied career taught me that the same growth principles apply everywhere — whether it’s AI, beauty, sportswear, or media.

I live by this belief: Your starting point doesn’t determine your finish line. What matters is how many times you’re willing to adapt, learn, and keep moving forward.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not. My journey has been anything but smooth — and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

When my family immigrated from India, we started with very little. My parents worked incredibly hard to build an upper-middle-class life for us, but as a kid, I faced my own uphill battles. I struggled in school for years, not realizing I had undiagnosed ADHD. At home, there were high expectations, but not always the tailored support to meet them — so I had to learn to adapt, figure out my own systems, and eventually turn those challenges into strengths.

That theme of figuring it out carried into my career. When I left the premed path, I had zero business network and no safety net. I worked for free for nine months at a venture capital firm just to get my foot in the door. I’ve taken huge risks — like becoming CEO of an AI startup at 21 — and had to learn leadership, fundraising, and product development in real time.

Even in later stages, the struggles just evolved. Scaling companies means long nights, big revenue targets, and constant problem-solving. At Lasso, I was balancing marketing campaigns, operational challenges, and preparing the brand for an exit all at once. At Beige Video, I took a big revenue leap but had to rebuild the sales infrastructure from scratch under intense pressure.

The common thread is that the hard moments have always been the most defining. They taught me resilience, creative problem-solving, and how to stay calm when things feel impossible. Looking back, every “struggle” was actually a training ground for the work I do now — helping other founders grow their companies through Jiva Agency.

We’ve been impressed with Jiva Agency, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At Jiva Agency, we’re not just a marketing consultancy—we’re a growth engine built for modern operators, especially those embracing digital-first and AI-forward strategies. Our mantra is simple and powerful: scale smarter. That means helping brands streamline operations, grow revenue, and build a future-ready, AI-first foundation.
What do we do, and what makes us different?

Core Service Pillars:

Project Management & Systems
We design dashboards, custom CRMs, and repeatable workflows that transform operational chaos into efficient, growth-ready processes.

Digital Marketing Strategy & Execution
From full-funnel marketing to email, social, and paid ads, we deliver campaigns that translate into real business lifts—not vanity metrics.

Artificial Intelligence Consulting
We craft and implement AI strategies, tools, and systems tailored to businesses—not just theory. We also train teams to use AI effectively.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
For me, mentorship has never been about formally asking someone, “Will you be my mentor?”—it’s about building genuine relationships with people you admire and finding ways to bring them value.

When I was starting out, I didn’t have a network handed to me. In fact, when I decided to leave medicine for entrepreneurship, I knew almost no one in business. My breakthrough came from offering to work for free at a venture capital firm for nine months. That experience didn’t just teach me the mechanics of startups—it put me in rooms with people whose thinking and decision-making I wanted to learn from.

The best mentors in my life have been people I met by showing up—whether that was volunteering for projects, attending events, or cold-messaging someone on LinkedIn with a specific question. I think a lot of people overcomplicate networking. It’s less about collecting contacts and more about creating trust over time.

Here’s what’s worked well for me:

Lead with value — Ask yourself, “How can I help this person?” before asking for anything.

Be consistent — Relationships are built over months and years, not in one coffee meeting.

Stay curious — People are drawn to genuine learners, not transactional networkers.

Put yourself where the action is — I moved to LA for the energy of the startup ecosystem. You can’t replace in-person serendipity.

And one last thing—your mentors don’t have to know they’re your mentors. I have a “personal board of directors” made up of people I’ve met, worked with, or simply learned from at a distance. Sometimes the best mentorship comes from observation, not formal meetings.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jivaagency.com
• Instagram: https://www.jivaagency.com/
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sriramdurvasula