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The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.

July - 2006 - issue > How I Got Where I am Today

Could you please ask your team to stop bothering me?

Pradeep Shankar
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Pradeep Shankar
From: rvelpuri@oracle.com
Date: 22/03/1993
To: vp@oracle.com
Subject: “Could you please ask your team to stop bothering me? I have nothing to help you with…”

…This was the email Rama Velpuri sent out to one of his Vice Presidents at Oracle when asked for some help. This comment backfired on him later when Velpuri wanted to change roles within Oracle and move on to a different division—he faced obstacles galore. The Vice President spread the message to all other divisional heads that Velpuri was a difficult guy. “I missed a few opportunities,” he reminisces. “I learnt a great lesson in life then—never antagonize people.”

Velpuri’s bad attitude didn’t die easily. He sat in his 11th floor corner office overlooking the bay area with his feet crossed on the table and dared to smoke in a no-smoking building. “I can solve problems. I know my stuff. People think I am God. My SVP thinks I am a genius. Don’t mess with my attitude,” he often said to people around him and to himself.

A graduate from the Louisiana State University, Velpuri got his first taste of competition when he stepped into Oracle in 1989. “I looked to the right—there was a guy from MIT working there. And on the left was another guy from UCLA, or Berkeley. Here I was, Mr. Nobody from the South of US, from a small school. I realized in seconds that the competition would be stiff. I told myself, ‘I can do pretty much what these guys are doing because all I need is the ability to focus and understand.’

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