Deepakshenoy.com

It's the height of narcissism. When you get your own web site. (And the spelling of narcissism right the first time)

So here you go: http://www.deepakshenoy.com.

What email do I get? me[at]deepakshenoy.com? HeDaMan@...? Deepak@...? (that's weird) What do you think?

Pitch it right, says Guy Kawasaki

I just came across Guy Kawasaki's blog today. This guy is AWESOME. I've been to one of his presentations at Borland - he is incredible on stage. One thing I REALLY liked was his "top ten" format: everything has a top ten, including the Palo Alto High School baccalaureate speech, which everyone in the world has read because of a forwarding epidemic two years ago. They now read it out to six year olds.

Anyhow, Guy has written a book: The Art of the Start. It's about starting up, and you don't have to be a car. Okay, it's about entrepreneurship. Guy's got a very lucid writing style, so I suggest you read that book: except it's not available in India yet.

As a teaser, Guy's read out a full chapter, recorded it to MP3 and referenced it on his blog. It's a long MP3. It's the kind of MP3 that has you wondering why all this didn't strike you earlier. It's the kind of MP3 that'll make a difference to the way you sell, buy, hire people or even try to get donations for a charity. Listen in.

Do Not Call Service.

ABN Amro Bank has been calling me incessantly over the past month. I have now cancelled their card and torn it to pieces and sent it back, because they wouldn't stop calling me. It's so bad that when someone calls me and says "this is a call from ABN AMRO" I cut them off. And I recommend you do the same, because I just absolutely hate them.

I've expressed severe discontent before, in my Dear Inconsiderate Caller post, and now is the time for action.

The RBI has issued a notification saying:
The card issuing bank / NBFC should maintain a Do Not Call Registry (DNCR) containing the phone numbers (both cell phones and land phones) of customers as well as non-customers (non-constituents) who have informed the bank / NBFC that they do not wish to receive unsolicited calls / SMS for marketing of its credit card products. The DNCR should be set up within two (2) months from the date of this circular and wide publicity should be given to the arrangement. [Nov 21 2005]

So has this happened? Today is greater than two months from the date of the notification, so many banks do have such a service on their web site. Two major problems though:

1) Many banks "hide" this link somewhere within their site, making it soooo much more difficult to find.
2) Banks tend to say "give us 30 days to implement" which means they can STILL call you for 30 days.

For 2) above: you can take their call and cut it off, and thus make them pay the call charges.

And for 1) I have listed the set of Banks and their Do Not Call Service Links. Use it, and tell your friends, and your family and your dog please.

Note that items marked with a (*) are banks where the link is available on the MAIN PAGE. These are very nice people. (Thank you very much, sirs.)

Bank	NAV Page
ABN AMRO	Click Here
HSBC(*)	Click Here
HDFC Bank(*)	Click Here
Standard Chartered(*)	Click Here
SBI[1]	Click Here
Citibank	Click Here
ICICI Bank	Click Here

* Link is easily available on the MAIN PAGE of the bank.

[1] Had to find this using google. The link is http://www.sbicards.co.in.

You'll notice that a number of banks are missing here. Such as the PSU Banks (Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank etc.) and some other smaller banks.

I went to some of the bank sites and could not even find a "Do Not Call Service" link. But in my experience, none of these banks hound their customers with calls.

Having said that, you might have had a bad experience. So if you, or anyone you know, has been hounded by a bank NOT on the list, let me know, and I'll find the link and add it in.