There is an inherent bias that a lover of art can also be a connoisseur of technology
Published on : Thursday 10-03-2022
Kausambi Manjita, Founder @ Mason.
What was the inspiration that prompted you to pursue this career path?
On one hand I have always loved science and technologies – have been a voracious science-fiction reader. On the other, I’ve loved writing, painting and poetry, dabbling in all three since early childhood. This means I grew up with a unique perspective – someone who thinks experience+tech, and not just one of those.
As I grew into a tech-career, I started realising that there is a dearth of tech-for-all because most enterprise or B2B tech tends to be expensive, hard to implement and not very easy to use.
By 2012 I knew this is where I wanted to be, building and growing solutions and apps that bring the power of deep tech to everyone. Soon enough, companies like Shopify, Slack, Asana & Zapier were disrupting what work tools and B2B meant – they disrupted the world of SaaS with simple, easy yet super powerful apps that most of us use today.
This inspired me and gave me the boost that my unique perspective is what the world is moving towards.
Can you recall your early days – say the first few days at work – and anything you would like to mention about that?
Let me recount my first – but failed – startup. I dropped out of corporate to start up on my own, and soon realised the difference between building an app within a large company vs building a company of your own. The reasons:
-Our go to market was not the right fit for the founding team. We tried to ‘sell’ whereas we are better at ‘evangelising’
-Our growth and marketing efforts were not compounding because we were not setup for cumulative growth, and
-I focused on doing most things on my own, did not set up right structures or playbooks for others to succeed.
The startup failed, but it did give me a lot of learning on things that are now our mantra as lifelong product builders:
-Go to market is as crucial, sometimes more crucial than simply the product itself
-Invest in building your growth engine early on, and
-Invest in your team from Day 0.
For a woman, it is a matter of finding the right balance between the jobs and managing the home – how do you manage this?
Early on, my personal life took a big hit.
There was a phase when every family member was unhappy with either the amount of time I was spending with them – or the quality of it.
Personally, I was not exercising, not taking care of my food habits nor taking care of my mental health. This added to the stress because whenever I had some time I was trying to be with family, yet most of that time was ending up in concerns from them about how unhealthy my lifestyle was – a vicious loop.
By now I have learnt that a strong disciplined routine where I take care of myself first, is everything. Yes it sounds boring – maybe even selfish – but that is the key to being balanced, being a better sister, daughter, etc., and also being able to focus and work hard for the long haul. Startups are – after all – the longest haul.
Today, I…
-Have a daily routine that includes meditation, light exercise and device-off time
-Have a weekly routine to do things I am passionate about but away from work, such as cooking, painting, and also include my family into these activities so that we spend time together doing things that make us happy
-Every month, I try to spend at least one weekend of focused quality time with my family, and
-Every quarter, we are trying to do the same with our team – 2-3 days of time away from work where the teams get to know the other side of each other…and learn from each other.
As one rises up the hierarchy, the job involves odd hours and travel. How is that experience?
I will present a unique view here. For me it’s all about taking care of mental health. Guilt or FOMO both are easy to creep in, and eat away into every decision because it makes the commitment half hearted, not 100%. And then we tend to over think, over eat, or get addicted to stress relievers that are unhealthy for us.
Meditation helps me to be at the moment – so that whatever I am doing, I am doing 100%. So while travelling, I immerse myself into the experience 100%. If working at an odd hour, I try to focus on the task that needs to get done by creating a good environment where I play good music in the background, eat some fruits to keep the energy up, take little movement breaks to keep the body feeling energetic vs rueing that it is late and spiralling into ‘I wish I was…’.
Easier said than done, but it is a journey and I work hard at being in the moment.
Have you ever missed a career opportunity of promotion due to the gender?
I did not have much of a chance to notice this during my pre-startup days, but I have seen that it can be sometimes difficult for women ‘technology’ founders like me who do not have an IIT engineering degree to be considered as a serious contender to global companies – it could be VCs, advisors, maybe even leadership you hire. There is an inherent bias that someone who is a lover of art can also be a connoisseur of technology, and has been an important part of building out a great product like Mason, which is now widely adopted by eCommerce companies worldwide. Someone like me need more proof-points to convince others that this is serious.
The first step for me has been to work on shifting my own mind-set – I have been spending time to understand my own skills and where I add maximum value as a founder instead of things I wish I can do better.
Are workplaces today more sensitive to gender issues than say, a decade ago?
Definitely more aware, but I have observed that being aware is not the same as acting on it. We still grossly lack action.
Are there areas at work that still restrict women when it comes to leadership role?
Definitely in technology there continues to be a gap – in tech roles, women-tech founders, etc. It is not just leadership, for example, in systems engineering women are a rare find across the spectrum.
At the height of the pandemic a viral message talked about governments headed by women being more successful in managing the crisis. What is your opinion?
Women have two skills that are unique:
-They bring people together, and
-They act when someone they care about is facing a personal crisis...health, mental health or safety.
These two together means that woman leaders, in times of crisis, are tuned to bringing people together to solve the problem. I definitely agree.
Do you have a mentor or a role model? If yes, you may state briefly how it inspired you.
Right now, my role model is Subrata Mitra who is the head of Accel, India. He is one of those rare gems who is an amazingly committed and nurturing individual – and an example of someone who built and grew the best VC firm in India quietly and collaboratively.
What would be your message to the youth who are just starting their career?
Stay committed. Things might not happen in a day – and sometimes what happens can disappear too. If you are gritty and stay committed for the long haul, you will see the massive progress you’ve been able to make.
Please describe yourself or your aspirations, dreams in 3 words.
People. Poetry. Products.
Kausambi Manjita, Co-Founder & CEO at Mason, is an award-winning and venture-capital-backed entrepreneur with 12+ years of experience. A year and half into the business, Mason – a nocode Store Operating Engine that empowers eCommerce brands & retailers to run a hands free, 24x7 high-converting online store – has been able to empower 10,000+ global retailers to automate their storefronts with its no-code headless technology and has seen a whopping 300% increase in their productivity.
Focused on creating a gender-inclusive work environment, today Mason boasts of having women in its key leadership positions – their Product, Operations, and Marketing teams are led by women experts. With over 30% of their current team strength being female, the startup is bullish about making it to 50% at the earliest; with plans to hire women in leadership roles for their North America front of the business. Furthermore, to promote a diverse and equitable workplace mind-set, the startup encourages the usage of pronouns that do not have a very male-centred bias. Maternity & parental leaves are both emphasized so as to help parents take on the shared responsibility of children at an early age.
The team together has brought home global accolades such as Golden Globe Winner – Women World Awards 2021 and Nasscom Emerge 50 Winner amongst others.
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