Category: Good Guys

Trust Maketh A Good Day

Trust_flickr_soonerpa
(Photo courtesy flickr | soonerpa)

With Lightening McQueen back in town, it was just a matter of time before we had to make a trip to the cinemas. While making reservations online, I ran into connectivity issues that left my transaction incomplete – a depleted bank account, but no reservations. Having heard of prior instances, I readied myself for time consuming multiple calls to the vendor call centres. The reservations were completed with a new transaction (twice the amount spent so far) & the sorting of the issue relegated to the weekend.

After having watched the movie, we grappled with a bout of flu over the rest of the weekend. The task of having to recover the extra ticket money was a nagging thought through the weekend & Monday.

Come Tuesday morning, a surprise awaited in my mailbox. A mail letting me know that the ticketing vendor has initiated a refund for my failed transaction! And I had not called any call centre yet. It was such a thrill, a relief & a hope-instilling event. In this big bad world where opportunism rules people’s behaviour, it was pleasant to experience something as basic as a fair business practice. There is hope 🙂

The incident reminded me of what I had read about one of Omidyar Network’s investing philosophy – investing in ventures that promote mutual trust via online business. I so understand this thought process now.

Update (19th July 2011): Check out this article (Digital Oxytocin: How Trust Keeps Facebook, Twitter Humming) that postulates that Internet use (the likes of Facebook & Twitter in particular) promotes trust amongst its users.

You don’t have to win to WIN!

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
– Mahatma Gandhi –

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”
– Arnold Schwarzenegger –

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Inspiration from Jamie Dimon of JPMC

(Photo courtesy BusinessWeek)


Age old wisdom that you don’t have to put someone down to feel on top put in action here. We could definitely do with more of this around.
JPMorgan Chase chairman Jamie Dimon’s dramatic falling out with Sandy Weill has passed into financial folklore. The two men had worked very closely together for about 15 years before they took over Citigroup. Dimon was widely seen as Weill’s successor at Citi. But, in 1998, Weill fired Dimon (speculation has it that Dimon passed Weill’s daughter over for a promotion).
Dimon moved on to Bank One in Chicago, turned it around, and merged it with JPMorgan in a deal that ended with him becoming chairman and CEO of JPMorgan. Then, in October 2006, he decided to pull out of subprime loans even as other banks bet huge amounts on them. The result: JPMorgan was the only bank with enough cash to acquire the ailing Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual when they were on the brink of collapse. Today, JPMorgan has surged far ahead of the crisis-ridden Citigroup. So is revenge sweet?
“No,” he said promptly. “I still have a lot of friends there, and what happened was so hard on people. I could play a sport with you and want to beat the hell out of you. But if you break a leg or have a heart attack, I’ll take you to hospital. I truly want Citi to get better. Citi’s problems are bad for Citi, for the people there, for America, and not good for JPMorgan. Also, it’s a terrible mistake to measure yourself by someone else doing badly. I want us to grow for us.

Aamir Khan!

I finally managed (have a 6 month & a 3 yr old at home) to watch Taare Zameen Par about 2 weekends ago. Since then I have been awe with Aamir!!


Though I’ve been a fan of Aamir’s for a long time now, this movie just blew my mind. The performances, the handling of the topic & the various special moments in the movie are just too good. Definitely one of the best movies I have ever seen.

Just before writing this note, thought I would check out Aamir’s site / blog. And the first posting that I see on the site, I notice about 13 of his fans being responded to individually – by the man himself. And there are 2477 comments on this message alone. He is phenomenal!

Am trying to get hold of a mail that I received immediately after TZP was released – a mail comparing Aamir & Shahrukh. Stars in their own right, and as different in their stardom as chalk & cheese.

A proud Aamir fan.