Page 21 of No Match Found
They wanted me to sayyesto Threadline’s idea? To let a stranger with an axe to grind shadow me while I dated whoever Matchify paired me with?
Had they learned nothing from their last PR disaster?
I pulled up my chat thread with Brooke.
I need you.
Less than sixty seconds later, she was walking into my office, her eyes wide with concern. “What happened?”
“Read this.” I scooted my chair away from my desk to give her space.
She came around and leaned over, and her eyes skimmed Vantive’s email. Her brows lifted, and she stood straight. “Huh.”
“Why would they say that? Why would theywantthat? Wasn’t this exactly what landed their last investment in hot water?”
Brooke folded her arms, her eyes still on the email. “Maybe that’s why they’re suggesting it. I mean, even a decade ago, therewasn’t nearly as much scrutiny of public figures as there is now. Maybe they’re trying to get ahead of itbeforethey’ve invested.”
“So, they’re trying to see if I break before they give Matchify money.”
Brooke shrugged, her eyes apologetic as she sat on the edge of my desk and crossed her ankles. “Sink or swim, I guess. You can’t blame Vantive too harshly for wanting to know how deep the water is.”
“I can when it’s my love life they’re tossing in.” I dropped back in my chair and let my head fall back. “Either I say yes and take the risk of making a total fool of myself—potentially losing Vantive’s investment money—or I say no and likely lose the funding anyway. I don’t like those options.”
“You won’t make a fool of yourself, Viv. You’re not like that couple that live-streamed their breakup. You’re poised and smart. You think through decisions before making them. And you’ll have us by you every step of the way.”
I was less scared of making a fool of myself than I was of other things—things I couldn’t admit, not even to Brooke.
What if Matchify took all my data and spit me out as unmatchable? What if this crazy experiment ended by reinforcing what I already knew: I was too hard to love?
Not love in the general sense—I had friends and family I knew loved me. I meant the type of love that made people want to make vows and share a bed and look forever in the eye with a joyful, synchronized cheer.
If the app I created couldn’t help me, what did that say about it? Or about me?
It would hurt Matchify; it might killme.
“And what happens at the end?” I asked. “When I’ve gone on a string of dates with a spectator tagging along and I have nothing to show for it but whatever scathing article Grant decides to write?”
Brooke let out a sigh and studied me for a few seconds. Sheslipped off the desk and stood in front of me. “You know what you need?”
I nodded. “Millions of dollars to fund growth.”
“Yes. But also no.” She grabbed my hands and pulled me up from my seat. “You neednumbers. You don’t do decisions without numbers. Give me half an hour to look into a few things, then we can sit down and decide what the best, data-supported option is.”
She was right. I couldn’t make this decision without more data.
I squeezed her hands. “You’re a saint.”
She squeezed right back. “Cold, hard numbers coming right up!”
I had an alarming number of emails to respond to, so I focused on those while Brooke worked her magic. My brain wanted nothing to do with my inbox.
I shot off a response to an email about our PTO system still not syncing properly, snorted at an invitation to speak at a conference where my topic would beWomen in Tech—Work/Life Balance, and forwarded Brooke an email from Lauren Chen at Stratus Capital asking if I’d be at the TechConnect Mixer in a couple weeks. Brooke was always my sidekick at that sort of event.
She burst through the door. “Order up!”
I spun away from the computer, my eyes fixing on the paper she held like it would actually feed me.
She took a seat in the chair opposite me and cleared her throat like she was starting a presentation. “Okay. Coming in hot here. Get this. Seventy-four percent of consumers say they trust a product more when they know the story of the founder. You know as well as I do that trust translates to ROI.” She held up a finger. “Additionally, business social media profiles that feature personal stories from their executives perform 2.6 times better in engagement. People remember stories better than stats. In demonstration of this, I looked at our own Matchify data. We’ve shared quotes from you that featured in past articles, and guess what?You get higher-than-average engagement. Twenty-four percent higher, in fact.” She offered something between a smile and grimace. “Like it or not, Viv, youarethe brand.”
