SOMA Magazine SOMA Film and Music Issue Aug 15 | Page 46

Feature

The Influencers
Natalia Burina
TexT by Kyle Thornburg
PhoTograPhy by Coriander STaSi

For Natalia Burina, software engineering errs on the side of charisma. As a young entrepreneur, Natalia’s upbringing was rich
with her Yugoslavian heritage and an obvious diligence, which
influenced her to study applied math and computer science at
the University of Washington. It was from this foundation that
Natalia worked for powerhouses such as eBay and Microsoft,
where she built consumer products used by millions of users.
With newfound roots in San Francisco, Natalia co-founded
Parable, a photo-networking app fusing users’ thoughts, emotion, and images as one.
Your parents influenced your foray into computer science
after immigrating to the United States, but you also have
many liberal arts passions. Was it always clear you’d intertwine these interests in your career?
Not at all! Early on in my career I worked as a software engineer. The job was highly technical and required a great degree
of specialization.
A successful consumer product inspires strong emotions
in its users. I find that studying examples of good design,
psychology, architecture, and art is a great guide for building
successful products.
I have always been a voracious reader and loved to write.
Language is a powerful tool that fascinates me. As someone
who speaks three languages, I recognize how language shapes
our experience of the world. For startup founders, the skill to
communicate and write well is essential. A well-crafted email
can change the fate of a business. Great founders communicate
effectively with users, press, and investors.

Describe the experience of releasing an app like Parable,
into an industry comprised of your colleagues, consumers,
and critiques.
Building Parable has been an incredible adventure! A short
time after we launched, Apple featured Parable on the App
Store. It meant a lot to us that they liked our design. Parable
also garnered acquisition interest from Facebook and Pinterest.
At one point we had so much traffic that we reached capacity
with our email servers. The greatest reward is seeing endearing and creative posts from our users. Many love it because it
is an opportunity to interact with people from all corners of
the globe.
In what ways does Parable enable you differently as a professional than in your past?
As a startup founder I took on roles that were new to me. I learned
how to market, and work with users, partners and press. I love
the breadth of work with Parable. The best part is the freedom
to define and build something new.
How do you maintain momentum working in such a competitive industry?
I enjoy tackling hard problems. However, to gain and maintain momentum you have to surround yourself with smart
people. A great team will challenge and push you. When
everyone on the team has high standards, you don’t have to
worry about momentum.

Do you have a life philosophy?
I believe in simplicity. My favorite quote is attributed to da Vinci,
What part did your professional history play in your culti- “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” It also captures my
vation of Parable in 2014?
approach to product development. .
My career has been dedicated to building software products
from the very beginnin ˈH]