Archive for October, 2009

Service level apathy: Is it because we’re just too many??

Posted: October 31, 2009 in Uncategorized
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Bhavin, who writes as the Man from Matunga, in Mumbai Mirror, has in the last few weeks, covered more than one service level issues, with brands. That in his once-a-week column, he finds it worthwhile to cover these so frequently can only indicate a high frequency of such events!

And don’t we all know?

Let me recount an episode that I am still in the middle of.

My Linksys Wi-Fi router at home, finally called it a day, after a good 4-5 years. I went shopping for a replacement, and found at Staples, besides Linksys, the Belkin brand. Being cheaper for nearly the same specs, I took a view on the brand from my brother, and after getting a strong validation, I purchased the Belkin N Series Wi-Fi router.

Tried to self install as per their paper guide. Could not quite get it done. Luckily they had a toll free number to call from India. I was very impressed that at 10 pm on a holiday, the call connected. And oh, the call went to a foreign country, not sure where. The accent was very un-Indian. Perhaps Philipines. Neat, I thought. For once, calls from India are being outsourced to another country!! Anyway, the person on the phone spent a good 15 min with me, guiding me on a step by step process, and got the router up and running.

I was happy.

About 5-6 days later, the router again gave issues. After trying hard myself, I called the toll free number again. The guy on the line tried his best, but could not sort the issue. He then put me across to their senior technician, who also tried hard. No go.

At this point, the senior technician, in what can only be termed as very western style, was able to authorize for me, a free replacement. He looked up and gave me detailed addresses, phone numbers and concerned persons’ names, at two independent locations in Mumbai, where I could go and get the router replaced. He even gave the call id reference number, his own name and suggested that this should be enough to get the replacement to happen.

Wow, I continued to be impressed. Even while I was continuing to be disappointed by what looked like a bad purchase! I was willing to assume that I had a bad piece, unfortunately, and this could happen as a bad coincidence. But that, since their service was so impressive, I might still be with the right brand and the right company.

Alas. This is where the international service ended and the India part kicked in. And trouble began.

Considering the conversation with the senior technician, I went ahead and sent the router with those details, to the service place. Which happened to be, by the way, an independent company, viz. Accel Frontline Ltd. I thought the call id and other details would be sufficient, as conveyed by the senior technician, and I was quite looking forward to an across-the-counter exchange.

Well, first of all, they asked for the purchase invoice. Which I had not sent. My bad.

As luck would have it, my invoice and credit card slip had got washed with the laundry. Did not remove it from trousers! But this part still worked out fine. I happened to visit Staples again, gave them the date and the reference (credit card, product name etc.) and they were able to pull out the invoice, and gave me a duplicate one. Service with a smile too. That I had gone on a weekday afternoon, when the store was pretty empty, might have been one of the reasons of the prompt service. That apart, the attitude was good.

So back to Accel. Sent the router and the invoice now. No across-the-counter replacement. They took the router, gave me an acknowledgement, some call id number of their own, and suggested to contact them after 7-8 days! Uh-oh.

Count to 10. Be patient. Hang on. I did. Decided to wait.

The service paper they made out and gave, had some impressive suggestions. That I could send the call id over SMS and get an automated updated status and everything. Wow. Service station automation. Cool.

7-8 days later, I first tried the phone only. They had a few numbers, including a cell number of one of their key persons. NONE of them responded! Tried the next day. SAME story. Could not connect on phone.

Then I remembered tha SMS option. Perhaps they don’t take calls to encourage everyone to use SMS. Did that. Waited for the response. Waited. Waited. None came.

Finally exasperated, and figuring that 9 days have gone by, and router should anyway be ready, I sent my person to go and fetch it.

Worst fears confirmed. It was not ready. Another 4-5 days was the time taken. Unfortunately my person did not connect me to them on phone, while he was there. I tried to call them to understand what the matter was. I could not connect to them on phone.

With no option, waited for another 4-5 days.

THEN, when my person called, lo and behold, the phone connected. And he was told that yes, it will take ANOTHER 4-5 days. But since now the phone connected, I decided to call them myself. The poor operator at the other end, did not have a clue why there is a delay. She promptly gave me the Mumbai head’s cell number. Which was “switched off”. So I called the babe again. So she cried, “we have not got the piece from head office, so how can we give you?”. I said that I need to speak to head office then. She promptly gave me the Chennai number of the concerned person at the head office. That was on Friday first half.

Over the day, I called this lady in Chennai 3-4 times, since she promised to help. Of couse, I had to use words like “consumer complaint” etc. but I am not sure if those were the catalysts, or whether it was always possible for them to do things, but needed someone calling in from Mumbai few times in a day, to make it happen.

Well, now I have been told that the replacement has been shipped to Mumbai office, and Monday might be my lucky day.

And then I have to hope that it was not a product problem, but just a piece problem, and the replacement works fine.

Oh, still a long way to go, before I reach true Wi-Fi happiness. Why did I not go for a Linksys only??

So the moot point here is, whether we are apathetic to service? We are too many. There will always be another sucker queieing up. So do we need to worry if this one’s disturbed. Is that the reason? Is it cultural – a ‘chalta hai’ high tolerance syndrome? The way Bhavin ultimately “settled” to accept a less than desired service level in Goa, do we all, just accept and resign ourselves? And continue to get shit??

I wonder about it. Even as I wait for my Wi-Fi to be restored at home..

The Agassi confession: The Early Days Indiscretions Syndrome??

Posted: October 30, 2009 in Uncategorized
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It was shocking to read Agassi’s confession about having taken drugs earlier in his career, and lied about it too.

a. that as a player of his stature, he did it, and got away with it.

b. that just because he’s got a book out, he wants to come out and confess. Not really to repent, but to sell more books!

c. and he will pretty much run scot free. Where other athletes have had disastrous ends to their career, lost their medals, and lost financial rewards, when caught!

It is a shame really, considering that he was one of the more loved characters on court, had a fairytale wedding to another tennis ace, Steffi Graf, and was certainly an all-American favorite.

Is this a syndrome though? No, I am not referring to the drugs. I refer to the indiscretions, small or big, at the early stage of a career. Is it a done thing for many if not all very successful people?

Bending the law to one’s convenience. Cheating. Fraud – small or big. Are these often the start? And doing these, if one gets away, and breaks out, then the person “cleans up” his act??

We have all heard stories of Dhirubhai Ambani’s beginnings. The film Guru, clearly inspired on his life, shows many a maninpulation that was carried out. Perhaps with the best of intentions. But a crime nonetheless. And now we have a gigantic empire based on that foundation.

I heard a quote from J P Morgan, where he is supposed to have said that “Don’t ask me about my first million. I can explain every cent after that”.

Is that how it always is? Agassi, Ambani, Morgan – are these the inspirations for others, then?

And then, do the others know, where their “first million” comes? Or at what stage they need to stop taking the performance enhancing drugs??

Is it just a grey-grey world that we live in, where there is no white and no black, and depending on which side you look from, the grey may appear white enough for you?

What do you think?

Are we making the most of the advantages that we have?

Posted: October 29, 2009 in Uncategorized
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I am not. And this post is a reminder to myself, to focus on this aspect.

Ok, so let me rewind and get you to the page first.

This thought comes up when we discuss life in India and that in the US, for example. Many of us, especially from Engineering programs in India, have a lot of friends who opted to stay back in the US, and who have been there now for many years. And there were others like us, who had those opportunities as well, but we chose to return or stay back in India. And this then, makes a comparison of life in the two places, a frequent topic of conversation.

My good friend, Vineet, must be credited for bringing out this specific thought. As an observation first, and then the challenge.

Typically, families (and I refer to our desi families there) in the US, have to personally tend to grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, tending to the gardens, driving their own cars, juggling around the kids schedules and managing those, and what not. And all that, while they are still putting in a hard day’s work. And often, we see them still finding time for their holidays, or for taking a trek, or go skiing, or pursuiing hobbies, or being a soccer coach to the kids at school and what not.

Cut. To India now.

Servants galore, a chauffeur to drive us around, huge support system of friends and family, and such advantages. And what do we do with those advantages. If anything, we should be having more time and more space to pursue other interests, or be better parents, or help others. And not necessarily by stretching out to 18 hour days. And yet, how rare is that. Most of us seem to lose time in the routine, in the mundane, or perhaps in yet some more work.

So that brings me to the topic of this post. Are we making the most of the advantages that we have??

Now, if we start giving reasons of the disadvantages that we have in our lives, we must honestly question ourselves, if we are just creating alibis? We can fool others (or try to) but we cannot fool our own selves!

If I have to answer the question, I will say that honestly, “No, I am not making the most of the advantages that I have in life!”. And that needs to change..

Forget the India-US advantage. There are many others.

The other day when the Central Railway in Mumbai was thrown out of gear, there were commuters who had to walk many hours to reach home. Many many commuters do it on a daily basis. And here I am today, with a 5-minute commute to work. A huge advantage of sorts. And am I making the most of this advantage by putting that time to best use? Guess not!

Yes, this needs to change.

Do you see the point? Do you believe you have advantages too? And are you making the most of those??

Serial Entrepreneur: How is it different the second time?

Posted: October 27, 2009 in Business, entrepreneur
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Yesterday I was filling out the registration form for the TiE Summit in Mumbai, coming up this December, and where I needed to describe my entrepreneurial status. Of the many options offered there (e.g. early stage entrepreneur, growth stage entrepreneur etc.), there was the one that seemed most correct for me, viz. Serial Entrepreneur. Yeah, I guess I qualify for that! Having co-founded and ran Homeindia.com from 1998 to 2007, before divesting our stake and exiting, now this new venture, Social Wavelength, started in April of this year, is certainly a “serial” venture!

So how is it different the second time around? Is there still the same passion? The madness to think that you can make the world different? Or is it all tampered with time?

I thought about it, and realized that for me, this second time is certainly different. But for all the right reasons! Well, except the age. Really, I wish I could have started my entrepreneurial career at least 10 years before I did. Oh well. (Maybe this last bit of thought is the direct consequence of having just passed the 46th birthday. Part of that philosophical churn that accompanies the passing of a birthday, especially in the 40s age bracket!)

Coming back to the differences between being a first time entrepreneur and a serial one, I would pick the following key factors:

  1. There is more fire in the belly. I must qualify this. I remember a talk by Kanwal Rekhi at IIT Mumbai, earlier this year. Where he clearly contrasted second ventures of very successful first time entrepreneurs (and how they were not doing that well, as comfort zone had set in) and how he valued the not-so-successful-first-time-entrepreneur’s second venture. Because if the first time had meant lesser success due to a myriad of circumstances, but not for want of trying, then the entrepreneur has a bigger motive this time. To show others but most importantly to himself that he is no less, and he can be successful. That brings in more hunger and more determination.
  2. When an employee walks away without giving adequate time, you are upset but not shocked. And words like ‘betrayal’ do not exactly come in the head. You have seen enough and more. That there are all kinds of people. After doing all that you can, to make life good for your team, and more importantly, give them the freedom to speak candidly to you about leaving etc., people may still behave peculiarly. Suddenly the ‘father may get seriously ill’ or ‘the family may get transferred’ or they may ‘develop a disease that requires hospitalization’ and due to which reasons, they have to leave the job right away. You almost want to tell them that ‘do away with the charade’. But you don’t. And accept this as one of those things that happen. In spite of everything that you do. And you go ahead and look for replacements and life goes on!
  3. There is excitement and enthusiasm but celebrations don’t start before the cheque actually clears in the bank! You have seen enough near-misses to know that being almost there is not good enough. A great client contract, an investment or any other such good news is only true and worth celebrating, after the deal is done or the contract signed. Or whatever.
  4. In my case, specifically, there is a lower dependence on the valuation story and more focus on making and running a good, profitable business. The first time around, we actually stopped a profit making activity after we raised venture money, and pursued only a valuation game. This time around, there is clarity that profits and cash are king, and must be nurtured and protected and grown. And valuation, if it happens (and it will!), it is good, but it should not be made the be-all-and-end-all of the business activity.

Well, so here I am, serial entrepreneur. On this second journey. More exciting than the first in many ways.

What’s your story? Are you on your first? Second? Fifth? Done and retired in Bahamas..? What??

Monday Morning Musings..

Posted: October 26, 2009 in Uncategorized
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This is the first day of my 47th year on planet earth.

Yes, its been a while since I have been around 🙂

And yes, it was my 46th birthday yesterday.

Unfortunately, spent most of it in bed. Laid low by what seemed to be “internal fever”. Body ache and stuff. Maybe the body just demanded rest. And I had to give in. Fair enough. I was sleeping enough to not use that time, to reminisce about the years gone by. No, have not strayed that path. Lest it lead to pain 😉

Finally be end of the day yesterday, generated enough strength to get out, and take a break. Went and saw ‘Julie and Julia’. I had 3 clear reasons why I went for this film:

a. Needed that break on the birthday after spending the day in bed, and didn’t have strength to walk around, so sitting in a cinema was about the best I could do,

b. There is absolutely no other movie worth seeing, as far as I am concerned,

c. Meryl Streep. I am a huge fan. Recently reconfirmed after seeing Mamma Mia on TV few days back.

On top of that, had read a brief review and liked the concept.

Well, the film turned out to be a lovely one. Very simple in concept. And inspiring.

Spread across two periods of time (I like the way these new film models are emerging.. saw it to an extent earlier in Rang De Basanti), its a story of two women. Who find their calling in cooking. And about how that one passion gives meaning to their lives. And makes life worth living.

I found inspiration in this simple message. About finding that calling that drives you. About setting deadlines and making it happen. About recognizing your own pitfalls and putting constraints on yourself so you can overcome those pitfalls. And of course, about food. Enjoying it. Especially the desserts 🙂

Other than the movie, was happy to receive loads of sweet messages from friends, relatives, colleagues, etc. On phone, on Facebook, on SMS, on Twitter, on Email. From close friends and family, to some long lost ones, and to some stray contacts made via Twitter and FB. Well, they all took the effort and I am so thankful for their wishes and their thoughts.

And then I got so many of those automated business greetings. Well, we end up leaving our date of birth at so many places nowadays, when we fill forms of all kinds. And then some of them convert it to an automated birthday message system (we’d done it earlier too.. lol). Unfortunately, most of them are so boring. Some of them use even this opportunity to pitch some sales. Really! They must grow up, right? We’re talking of Web 3.0 and these guys are still on Email 0.1 looks like?!

One of them was a little different. They actually picked up the phone and called. Not an IVR.. thank God for that. But a real person, with a real warm greeting. And managed to stand out.

Which is what each of us needs to do. Stand out. Be different. Be counted for the unique individuals that each of us are.

Cheers!

DON’T ‘Wake Up Sid’!!

Posted: October 8, 2009 in bollywood, Konkona Sen, Movie Review
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Yeah, really..life would have been just fine, if Sid had not been woken up, or Mukerji had not made this movie at all.

Or if Karan Johar had not gone grovelling to apologize and put up a big banner at  the beginning of the movie, with the apology. He would have retained self respect, and some of us may have not had to go through the flick!

But they woke him up. And Karan went to Raj’s feet and apologised. And the film got released. And I found myself in that seat watching the proceedings. Which did not really “proceed”.

In fact, they woke up Sid. But let the scriptwriter fall asleep. And because of which the same scenes kind of repeated, and the story seemed to be stuck at a point. If a viewer in the theatre had fallen asleep after the first thirty, there would have been no need to wake him up till the last thirty. He would have not missed anything interim!

So they say, it is a story about the coming of age of a rich spoilt brat kid. Much like Dil Chahta Hai (Aamir’s character, I suppose).

First of all, WUS and DCH should not be used in the same sentence together. Where DCH was a defining moment by a great filmmaker, WUS is not even a pretense. No seriously, if you must compare, think how it would have been, to just make a movie about Saif’s character in DCH. Without adding any more twists or turns. Saif’s character justified that 20% footage in DCH. Mukerji has made an entire film, WUS, out of that kind of a storyline. You get the picture now?

And if the comparison has to continue, lets speak about the music too. Both had Shankar Ehsan Loy. But just having the same music director does not ensure that same quality of music. DCH pretty much had an excellent, consistent score right through, with memorable songs that still come to your lips. WUS has a couple of short term winners, due to an aggressive push on radio, but I assure you, these will be forgotten in exactly 2 months, if not earlier.

In terms of the cast, its really just two people. Rest are furniture. That is the other problem with films like these. No development of other characters! Anyway, Ranbir will get slotted into these stupid roles, if he does not pick his films better. Guys like Imran and even Neel Nitin might steal a march over him, no matter his last name and pedigree!

And Konkona – really, if she must do crass commercial cinema, she can still find better roles than this one. Or why not stick to projects which allow her immense opportunity to showcase the awesome talents that she does have??

So you might ask me, ‘what about those great newspaper reviews?’. Well, I am convinced now, that if Karan Johar will go to the length of losing all self respect and go and apologize publicly, for a writer’s license in using the word “Bombay” instead of “Mumbai”, then what does it take to get a reviewer to write a favorable review?? Especially with publications like TOI, which have become advertorials all through, how much can it cost, to have a great review written??

The week before I had mentioned that if Salman Khan wanted to write a promotional press release, he could have not written a better one than what Avjit Ghosh wrote, supposedly as a review of ‘Wanted’. Likewise is the case, this week, for Avjit’s review of Wake Up Sid. Like a film and a filmmaker could do no wrong, and if there was a lifetime achievement award to be given, it should be given right now, to all the cast and crew of Wake Up Sid!!

A tad too flattering?? What say?