The Term Sheet | Wattys 2016 Winner

Chapter 21

Andrew rushed in the front door of David's apartment without knocking. David was making coffee, standing near the kitchen counter in his T-shirt and boxers.

"Hey, David."

"Hey, I have something to tell you."

"It will have to wait," said Andrew. "We're back on again."

"Back on what?" said David.

"Pitch Deck. Put on some pants, will you?"

It had been a month since he last spoke to Mark, and since then he had been focused on writing code.

"Oh, great," David said in a soft voice. "I need to tell you something."

"You don't sound that excited," said Andrew. "What's wrong? You getting cold feet? Afraid they're going to make you cut off your beard?"

"Of course I'm excited, just confused." David turned around to face the sink. "I just haven't had my morning coffee. Look..."

"Morning, Meg," interrupted Andrew. "Looking good."

Megan came out from the bedroom dressed in a short skirt and loose-fitting blouse.

"Thank you, Andrew," Megan said as she rolled her eyes. "David, why don't you put some pants on already? Don't you see we have a guest? Hey Andrew, what do you think of the acquisition offer?"

Shit.

"What do you mean the acquisition offer?"

"Didn't David tell you, yet?" Megan turned toward David and tilted her head. "Typical."

"I was just going to—"

"Tell me what? No wonder you weren't excited about Pitch Deck. Are you trying to sell our company behind my back? Were you going to make it a big surprise, or something? Don't you think I deserve to know these kinds of things? We're cofounders, aren't we?"

Megan rushed to the door. "I'll leave you two at it, I'm late anyhow."

"Of course not. Just give me a minute to explain," David said as he willed himself to turn around and look Andrew in the eye. "The reason Doug invited me to dinner yesterday was to tell me that he wanted to acquire our company."

"So how much did he offer?"

"Well, he didn't say yet." David blushed. "In fact, he was just about to call me. But they have been working on something like Cryptobit for years and they haven't been able to—"

"And what's going to be my new job?"

"Look, Andrew, I don't have all the answers yet. I don't know what your job would be, I don't even know what my job would be. I don't know how much they're offering. I don't know anything specific yet."

"In that case I think we should go on Pitch Deck first and see what happens there."

"Maybe," said David. His coffee was finally finished and he brought a cup up to his nose. "But we might not have enough time to go on Pitch Deck."

"The acquisition won't close in a week, will it?"

"No," said David as he took his first sip. "Probably not. But it's not like we're going to be on Pitch Deck next week."

"Yes we are."

David blew scalding hot coffee through his nose and started choking.

"Next week?" said David, clearing his throat. "We're not ready to go in front of millions of people."