Page 114 of Semantics

“Come on. Let’s get you on the road so you can go get that money.”

◆◆◆

“I can’t believe it,” Arlowe said. “We got it. They’re giving it to us.”

“It’s an investment, Arlowe, not a gift,” Enya stated and unlocked the front door.

“Semantics. What matters is we’re getting money for the business,” Arlowe reminded.

They all walked inside, and Violet was still in shock. Second in-person meeting after several phone calls, even more Zoom meetings, hundreds of emails, and what felt like thousands of pages of documents later, and they’d been told that Asset Capital was going to invest. It wasn’t a massive round, but it would keep the lights on and allow them to move at a faster pace for at least a few years. The paperwork still had to be reviewed and signed, but Violet had a lawyer who they reached out to for this kind of thing when they needed. He wasn’t exactly cheap, so they didn’t have him on retainer to save a little money, and on the drive home, she had to check their accounts to see how much balance they had liquid. Violet knew that if she paid him to review this agreement, that was the equivalent of about two weeks in company’s running time, which shortened how long they could last without this investment.

“When will the money hit our account, Vi?” Sarai asked, sitting on the sofa and kicking off her shoes.

“Not tomorrow,” she said as she sat down next to her. “I’ve got to get the lawyer to review it, but since we’re not on retainer, he won’t prioritize it. I can ask him to move it up on his list for a little extra money per hour if I have to. It’s not a big document or anything, but if he suggests changes, there could be a back-and-forth, and that could get pricey, so we’ll see.”

“But weeks, not months, right?” Arlowe asked her.

“I don’t know, Arlowe. My guess is at least a month or two. Also, remember, they’re not investing the full amount. We’re only getting a small portion upfront. We have to earn the rest. That’s the part of the agreement I want the attorney to review closely.”

“I know. It’s the carrot in front of the stick.”

“Why do you look worried and not happy, Vi?” Enya asked. “You were quiet on the drive home, and you don’t seem excited like the rest of us.”

“Um… Well, because we need this money a lot, and if there are any issues with it, I don’t have a backup plan.”

“We won’t need one now,” Arlowe said.

“I hope not, but I should’ve had one. I’m the CEO; it’s my job. But I was so focused on keeping the doors open and then the Cerebral thing, which I thought would make a difference faster, that I failed to pay attention to the fact that we only have about six months of runway left now.”

“Six months?” Sarai asked.

Violet sighed and said, “I guess my backup plan was to ask my parents for money, which I’ll still do if I have to because I don’t want to shut this place down, but that’s my last resort.”

“Vi…” Sarai patted her thigh. “Honestly, if we were doing so badly that you had to do that, I’d probably suggest we admit defeat. It’s been eight solid years of this; ten since we started working on it officially. I know some companies take forever to get profitable, but that’s no excuse for us to have drained your trust fund.”

“I’m the first investor. I knew it was a risk. I hoped it would pay off and I’d make that money back and then some, but I’ll have to dip into my personal savings soon or ask my family for money. That’s where we are. We need this investment now, and I just hope it’s not a slow process.”

“It’s been fast so far,” Enya shared. “And the carrot, as Arlowe called it, it’s enough, right?”

“It’s enough to get us to the stick part of the investment, I think, yes. By then, if we show them something, we’ll get the rest, and possibly more if they like what they see. That’s what I’m hoping for, anyway. I’m still a little nervous that it won’t happen, but if we can hire right and use that initial money well, I think it can.”

“I need engineers, Vi,” Arlowe said. “I know we can’t hire fifty, but can I at least get two with what we’re getting from Asset? I need time to implement Cerebral, and I don’t have much of that right now.”

“I think so,” she replied. “But we should start with assessing everything we need, so I’m thinking we go out to the garage and make a list on Sarai’s dry-erase board. We’ll narrow things down to our top ten priorities, see how much all of those cost, and go from there, picking what we can afford.”

“I need more in the marketing budget,” Sarai said.

“I could use a few more freelancers,” Enya added.

“Okay… Everyone, take an hour wherever you want in this house and come up with your own top-five list. We will meet in the garage after that and go over it. Rank everything because you’re not getting it all. Also, keep in mind that you won’t get any of it until the money comes in, and then, we’re not going to do everything all at once.”

“So, don’t go at it like kids in a candy store?” Arlowe said and stood up. “Got it.”

“I’m going outside,” Enya said. “I need some fresh air. I still can’t believe it.”

Enya stood and headed toward the back door through the kitchen.

“I’ll be in the garage, using my dry-erase board before you all borrow it,” Sarai said.