It probably wasn't the answer he expected. He chuckled.
“Creative? Personal expression? Making a difference?” he mused. “Must be nice, but that's not my experience. I can't remember how many ideas I've brought into my company that have gone nowhere. We fight for the bottom line. ‘Beat the numbers. Beat the numbers.’ I've given up. So I play the game, do my job.”
No wonder he was hawking a startup.
“I didn't say every business situation is creative or constructive,” I responded. “I only said business at its heart has the potential for creative expression and positive change.”
He rubbed his hands as if they were cold.
“I really wish that were true,” he said. “But I've never seen it.”
“It took me years to understand it,” I said. “It's not obvious.”
I pulled on my leather jacket. We shook hands. He stood by my bike as I put on my helmet and revved the engine.
He seemed at a loss for what to say. Another frustrating day. No money. His cofounder bailing out.
“I'd like to stay in touch on this, if that's OK?” he asked.
“Send me an e-mail. That's the best way.”
I slowly pulled away from the curb. Lenny and I would probably never see each other again. Nonetheless, I wished the best for him. Another short-timer struggling to do something he hoped would, if it succeeded, clear the way for what he really wanted to do, whatever that was. In my rearview mirror I glimpsed him standing alone at the curb, briefcase in one hand, file case in the other.
Chapter Four
THE
DEFERRED
LIFE PLAN
I ARRIVED BACK HOME LATE that evening after dinner with some old friends at the Iberia, another of my local spots. It was a bit of a “My Dinner with André” gathering. We postulated, between the paella and a few bottles of Spanish wine, on just how high the market could go and wondered whether there would be a bottom if things deteriorated. By my second glass, I was holding forth on the metaphysics of business, the human and social dimensions of commerce. My companions—all variously involved in the Valley as founders, funders, or functionaries—had heard this bit so many times, they just nodded in faint agreement and tried to steer the conversation back to the practicalities of buying low and selling high.
My afternoon had divided neatly into two parts: First back at the Konditorei for another pitch from a group of upstarts proposing to use the Net to improve customer service, retention, and recovery. Then a board meeting at which, depending on how you wanted to look at it, we wrestled with an impending cash crunch or we readied the company for a public offering. What looks like a cloud to one person is a chance to sell umbrellas to the next.
My wife, already off to bed, had left a light on. Debra is a high-powered senior executive at Hewlett-Packard, now one of the Valley's most venerable companies, decades beyond its scrappy start. Tika and Tali, our more-or-less Rhodesian Ridgebacks, shoved their muzzles through the door as I opened it, their tails drumming the wall in unison.
I ditched my boots, poured myself a Calvados, and headed to my office for the final task of the day: clearing phone messages and e-mails. Through the window, the distant lights of San Francisco twinkled like the Milky Way.
TO: randy@virtual.net
FROM: frank@vcfirm.com
SUBJECT: Dead or Alive?
Randy, any chance yet to talk to the Funerals.com guy? Unusual idea. Lemme know what you think.
Frank
A sandy-haired, softening, former fraternity boy out of UCLA, Frank is a genuinely nice guy. But his easy affability hides a fierce competitive streak. On the brink of forty, he's been in the business for more than a decade. He knows as well as anyone that it is important first to evaluate every aspect of a new idea with analytical precision but that, in the end, the decision to fund or move on is a matter of instinct. Frank can apply all the right metrics, but it is his nose that gives him his edge. He has a deep respect for entrepreneurs, coupled with a no-nonsense attitude toward performance. He would pull his support in an instant if he felt a founder wasn't cutting it.
Until Frank's note, though, my morning with Lenny had become a distant memory. Funeral goods. Bacteria. Make it big, then cash out.
I hit “Reply” and tapped out an answer:
TO: frank@vcfirm.com
FROM: randy@virtual.net
SUBJECT: Re: Dead or Alive?
We missed you at dinner tonight. All the usual suspects and the usual conversation—denigrating your portfolio and discounting your returns as the blessings of an innocent. I tried to defend you, but it was futile.
As for Funerals.com, the funeral goods market appears to be huge, so it merits some serious consideration. Lenny himself seemed bright, energetic, and driven, and also naïve and inexperienced. He doesn't have a team. His plan is fairly polished but incomplete, and his strategy limited—lots of fundamental issues still to be resolved. All in all, I didn't find anything here of particular interest to me, but you might do some more due diligence because of the market potential.
best
r
I looked the note over. I wanted to be honest and fair. Lenny was hard to read. His drive and desire were plain to see, and he had the makings of a good promoter, but something was missing.
Yawning, I hit “Send” and then deleted Frank's e-mail. Case closed.
I worked through the remaining messages one by one— FYIs from some of the companies I work with, a few queries from friends of friends suggesting we meet to discuss new ideas, and one from my sister the accupuncturist in Boston letting me in on a new herbal remedy. Then an e-mail from Lenny. I noted the time; he'd sent it well after midnight in Boston.
TO: randy@virtual.net
FROM: lenny@alchemy.net
SUBJECT: Thank You
Randy,
Many thanks for meeting with me this morning. I learned a lot from your reactions, and I revised the Funerals.com plan on the flight home. It's stronger now, with your help.
Thanks.
I hope you'll have a chance to look at the revised business plan I've attached. I incorporated the changes you suggested. It's a huge market, and someone is going to make a killing in it.
Let me know any thoughts about the new plan. I hope you'll reconsider working with us.
Thanks again.
Lenny
I replied: