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Leveling the Playing Field

Surabhi Date is a Strength and Conditioning Coach and the former captain of the India Women’s Rugby team. She has led the India Rugby team at the 16th Asian Games (Guangzhou), and at other prestigious tournaments like the Singapore Sevens and the Borneo Sevens. She has also represented Auckland Rugby for two seasons. She currently offers speed, strength and power training for elite and sub-elite tennis players preparing for national and international competitions.

As a professional sportsperson, what are some of the questions you’ve been asked that you think a male athlete would never be asked? How do you respond to these?

“How long will you play for? I was a mother already at 23! When do you plan to settle down?”

Good for you. I captained the India rugby team when I was already 19. I continued playing for the country till I was 23, played rugby for Auckland at 24 and now I am busy training athletes to win medals at the Olympics. Reckon my plans of when and where and how to settle down are clearly different than yours.

“You have such big thighs. Are you doing anything about them?” (They basically mean reducing!)

Yes, I squat a 100 kilos and sprint at 6.6 meters per second. I can probably save you when you’re in trouble. But I probably won’t. Joking. Maybe not! 😏 


“Playing sport especially when you’re on your period must be hard, no? Do you take days off on during such times?”

Have you ever heard of a world champion draw out of competition when she was on her period? What will you do when a female person from your circle wants to make a career in sport, or is already facing the same problem? Will you teach them to back off when things get hard (every month for her entire sports career), or will you help them to deal with it and get stronger?


“This is such a rough game for a woman. Why do you even play this game? Why didn’t you choose a gentler game?”

Because rugby chose me. I never went out of my way to get into the game. I was meant to be here. It just happened to me. FYI I did try other sports like football, athletics and tennis. I really wanted to make it big in tennis.  But somehow life just kept bringing me back to rugby, effortlessly.

Because I’m the most alive when I’m on the field. And I would do whatever it takes to feel alive again and again. I’d rather live a fearless life and enjoy it with all my heart than live it with the fear of being hurt and end up staying in a cocoon. Injuries are a part of every athlete’s life, every sport, every gender. Sport has and continues to shape my life in a better and more meaningful way, every day. All these scars I have were important for my growth and I am extremely proud of them. Also, when I turn 50 years old, I never want to say, “When I was young and able, I had a lot of opportunities to play, but I chose my job instead.” I don’t want to regret. Sporting career is short. I want to live it fully with no regret. Asking a sportsperson why they play is such a ridiculous question.

What has kept you going on tough days? What advice would you give aspiring female athletes?

My main pillars to keep me going on my tough days are discipline, self-belief, a good support system and developing endurance. 

Discipline
Nothing unique about what I say here. It is quite known that discipline is much more impactful than motivation. It is a constant choice between choosing what you want now, and what you want the most. You will get uncomfortable and you will get used to it over time and you will do what is supposed to be done every damn day, no matter what. That is discipline.

Unbelievable faith in myself and my dreams
 Self-belief is perhaps the most important aspect in an athlete’s life. When the going gets tough, my belief gives me hope and this hope keeps me going.  However bad it gets, there has to be something that you could do that’ll push you at least an inch closer to your goal. That push will only come when you have hope, which brings us back to— how much do you actually believe in yourself?

A good support system
No matter how strong you are, your family, mentors, friends are your pillars so don’t feel shy to reach out for help. Winning medals and in general succeeding in life is a team game. Although you are at the coalface, you win because of your support system. So, making sure you have your emergency dials and pin cushions and advisors ready is paramount.

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How Tech Is Disrupting Leading Industries

When companies first started using technology, it was limited to additional ways to advertise, shop, or research products. This simple idea of shopping from home, without a paper catalog, increases the ways companies can do business. Those who failed to jump on the e-commerce trade have suffered as consumers buy products directly from the manufacturer or companies shipping products immediately at a cheaper rate. 

E-commerce wasn’t the end of changes in the way we conduct business. There is room to disrupt industries such as dining out, on-site security, and getting paid that typically require multiple people or your actual presence to partake in the service provided. Technology will continue to infiltrate our workplaces and homes as technology disruptors become even more present in our lives.

Sweeping

A chore done daily by roommates, children, and grandparents doesn’t seem like an industry that can be disrupted; how fancy can a broom be? Automated cleaning products didn’t stop with the self-cleaning oven. The iRobot company, founded by former MIT students, created Roomba, the floor dwelling automatic sweeping/vacuuming droid. While more expensive than a standard broom, this device sweeps the floor without having the pain of dealing with the line of dust your dustpan leaves behind. 

Using AI and machine learning, the Roomba is able to learn its surroundings to clean your floor. Sensor technology prevents these autonomous cleaners from running into walls, getting stuck under couches, and falling downstairs. Entrepreneurs aren’t letting iRobot be the only company in the new autonomous vacuum industry. New products are attempting to disrupt the disruptor. As companies race for the best or least expensive product, competition is fierce to hire computer science professionals to enhance their robots’ visual mapping and machine learning capabilities.

Eyewear

Disrupting a leading industry doesn’t always mean proprietary technologies. The Internet allows consumers and customers to communicate and administer services at a faster and cheaper rate. Eyeglasses aren’t just used to correct visual flaws, but are a personal fashion statement and can become sentimental. Broken lenses and cracked frames are common plagues of eyeglass wearers who find it is often cheaper to get new glasses than find someone who can repair the frame or replace discontinued lenses. 

Lenscope is entering the eyeglass business to capitalize on the needs of consumers who simply want to fix their current pair of glasses. This business probably wouldn’t be as viable with the volume e-commerce allows. The Brazil-based company is looking to expand outside of the country soon and will undoubtedly need professionals with web development skills.

Career Coaching

Offering services to entrepreneurs, job seekers, and career changers is becoming a viable business outside of major markets. A service once limited geographically is now available all over the world. Not only does this provide a service to those in need of coaching, but it also provides those qualified extra revenue streams to apply their qualifications. Companies that offer virtual services between two outside parties will take additional steps to ensure their platforms are safe on all ends. Cybersecurity professionals will keep their apps safe and protect the sensitive information of their clients.

Getting Paid

The banking industry is staying up to date with technology, but that isn’t stopping companies from entering the market. You probably have at least two financial apps on your phone. If you only have your bank’s app, don’t forget it is possible to send and receive money through Facebook. There are apps for splitting dinner tabs with friends, sending them money, and paying the restaurant through your phone. Credit cards and cash are becoming obsolete. 

Fintech companies are teeming with new features to entice consumers to send money through their app. A unique feature of some apps is getting paid immediately or even paycheck advances. They take the opera singing Vikings of “it’s my money, and I need it now” to a whole new level. Creating an application trustworthy enough is not an easy task. Nor is getting it approved by the FDIC and other oversight committees. These companies need all types of tech professionals, including front and back end developers. You can learn these technical skills in months; you can even become a full stack developer with no degree.

Disruption Is The Future Of Tech

As leading companies and entrepreneurs understand and apply tech in new ways, they will use it in existing industries. There are still thousands of profitable ways to take market share from industry-leading companies.

The author, Artur Meyster, is the CTO of Career Karma (YC W19), an online marketplace that matches career switchers with coding bootcamps. He is also the host of the Breaking Into Startups podcast, which features people with non-traditional backgrounds who broke into tech.

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How AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science Are Disrupting Incumbent Industries

Technology is a tool that is invading all parts of our lives. We have personal internet machines in our pockets everywhere we go. The wide acceptance of technology allows companies and entrepreneurs to create easier access to goods and services that weren’t always available. At the same time, there are still miles to go before we reach an equitable society. It is also making difficult tasks such as insurance or mortgages incredibly simple, taking the daunting aspects away from smart financial decisions. 

Technological innovations are keeping companies on their toes. Industry giants who aren’t allocating resources to R&D or software development might need to start counting their days as entrepreneurs. Top tech disruptors build apps and software services that offer a better product than the incumbent industries. Complacency in today’s economy will spell disaster down the road. 

Insurance

Insurance has been around for an incredibly long time, and up until recently, we still had to talk to a sales representative to qualify and receive services. Now the process can be completed without talking to another human being. Many insurance providers have AI chatbots to guide you through the process. These chatbots take out the confusion, relieve us of the embarrassment of not knowing the jargon, and permit us to take our time looking at documents before signing our name. Lemonade—not the Beyonce album or the drink, but the online-based home owner’s insurance company—is stealing large pieces of the market in an industry that has seen little innovation in the past fifty years. The company’s mobile app developers create such a streamlined process a cave dweller could do it. 

Finding Qualified Candidates from Old Applications

Every day thousands of jobs are posted by HR reps only for them to receive hundreds of applications. A hiring manager at a large company will see hundreds of applications a week. Restless Bandit believes that companies can save time by revisiting old applications. Even candidates not selected for one role might be a good fit for a new position or still be interested in the original position if it becomes available again. Restless Bandit uses machine learning algorithms to analyze resumes and job descriptions to produce candidates who are well qualified to fill empty roles. Leaving this search to an algorithm is a cost-saving measure for HR departments.

The company’s machine learning algorithms have scanned over 100 million job descriptions and 300 million resumes to help global companies such as Adidas and Gannett. Their algorithms are altered by data scientists to improve outcomes and remove bias. You can become a data scientist by attending a top data science bootcamp. 

Taking Control of Our Health

Health experts have argued that technology is a detriment to our health by reducing our physical activity, looking at screens all day, and decreasing in-person social interactions. The combination of health sciences and computer science might help reverse the negative trends technology has caused. Mental health advocates are taking advantage of technologies to help us improve our overall wellbeing. The healthcare sector is growing and tech companies are riding that wave by offering ways to collect data on bodily responses and implementing better habits based on the results. There are hundreds of types of wearable tech that focus on heart rate, tone of voice, and blood pressure. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has elevated the use of teladoc appointments. The feature increases the number of patients a doctor can see and reduces travel as well as the risk of infection from other sick patients. It also takes less time than visiting the doctor’s office in person. We can take the doctor with us everywhere, using our mobile apps.  

Business Intelligence

More data is generated today than ever before, giving businesses and professionals more access to the drivers of their success. Proper analytics of datasets can help businesses leverage high impact decisions to increase revenue, cut costs, and set applicable goals. Seekify is helping companies and their clients align efforts to build successful relationships that benefit both parties. Seekify uses an algorithm to collect and organize data into useful data sets. Using these data sets to find trends helps companies build better business practices. 

You Can Be A Disruptor Too

We are only experiencing the tip of the iceberg of tech innovation. As technologies become less expensive and more readily available, innovation will reach more industries. You can be a part of the next wave disruption by learning the required skills to be a software engineer at a top coding bootcamp.  

The author, Artur Meyster, is the CTO of Career Karma (YC W19), an online marketplace that matches career switchers with coding bootcamps. He is also the host of the Breaking Into Startups podcast, which features people with non-traditional backgrounds who broke into tech.