She was unfazed by failure, layoff

She was unfazed by failure, layoff


Her brief attempt at entrepreneurship failed. She was even laid off once during a company restructuring. But she remained unfazed through all of this.

“Life is a game of snakes and ladders. It’s filled with ups and downs that should be embraced and enjoyed,” says Suprabha Mysore, vice president of software development at TransUnion, the US-based consumer credit reporting agency.

After a BE in computer science and three years with Nokia in a software development role, Suprabha decided to try her hand at entrepreneurship. It was 2007. Startups were not as fashionable then as they are today. The venture focused on creating mobile software that could facilitate the operations of e-commerce platforms. Such platforms were then just emerging. But after 18 months, she had to shut it down because she couldn’t get investors willing to bring the product to market.

That experience, however, was invaluable. She got insights into the workings of a business, as well as the expectations of clients and investors. She highlighted it in subsequent job interviews. Employers recognised the value of her entrepreneurial background and trusted her ability to lead teams.
Suprabha went on to work in engineering and product management roles for Cisco, Nokia, and Intel, before assuming her current role at TransUnion.

Expand


Throughout her career, Suprabha says, she has learned the significance of customer feedback and approaching product development from a user’s perspective rather than solely from a creator’s point of view. She would constantly keep the business aspect in mind while writing code.

In all this, music has been a constant companion. Suprabha can play the piano, and was trained in Carnatic music. “It taught me discipline and the importance of being methodical,” she says. “I tend to write everything down. Everything must be done step by step. This has not only helped get things done, but also in the order of importance. Keeping things in order is also what I expect from my team,” she says. During weekends, Suprabha spends time with her mother humming classical music.

She also writes short stories – which also trains the mind to be clear while communicating. Her first attempt was for her niece’s school project. After that, Suprabha started writing stories about things that inspired her during her business trips, and sharing it with family and friends. One such was an incident on an airplane. A young boy was creating a fuss about a broken shoe. Suprabha used this scene to create a story narrating how a shoe feels when it is neglected by people, or how it feels when it is a partner only till a race is won. She titled the story ‘A sole-ful run’.

Post Comment