Chapter 74: A good deal

Damian woke up to three messages from Maya and one from Ethan.

He opened Ethan’s first.

Ethan: Bro, quick question.

Damian: What?

Ethan: If I invest in your company, do I get free food?

Damian stared at the message.

Damian: You don’t even know what company I’m buying.

Ethan: That wasn’t a no.

Damian: Go to class.

Ethan: You’re avoiding the question.

Damian laughed, tossed his phone onto the bed, and checked Maya’s messages.

The first confirmed that the attorney had begun reviewing Northstar’s additional documents. The second contained an update on Brightpath’s financial records. The third asked whether he was available for a meeting that afternoon.

He replied that he was.

Then he got out of bed.

He had two companies to investigate, a university project to keep an eye on, and a girlfriend he had promised to spend more time with.

Apparently, having money didn’t come with a free schedule.

By ten o’clock, Damian was sitting across from Maya in the advisory firm’s conference room.

She had a printed report in front of her and a laptop open beside it.

“The Brightpath financials are more complete now,” she said. “There are still a few things to verify, but we have enough information to discuss a preliminary valuation range.”

Damian pulled out his notebook.

“Let’s hear it.”

Maya turned her laptop toward him.

“First, the good news. Revenue has been relatively stable, recurring subscriptions account for most of the income, and the company has remained profitable. Its customer base is real, and the product serves a clear market.”

“All things we already knew.”

“Yes. The important part is how those strengths translate into value.”

She opened another page.

“Brightpath’s growth has slowed, and the company hasn’t invested enough in product development or customer acquisition. Its profitability also benefits from keeping the team small. If you increase staffing and development spending, your expenses will rise.”

“Obviously.”

“Good. I wanted to make sure.”

Damian gave her a look.

Maya continued.

“The business has value as it stands today. But you shouldn’t pay the seller for improvements that you will have to fund yourself.”

That caught his attention.

“Explain.”

“Oliver knows Brightpath could grow faster with better integrations, reporting, and marketing. Those opportunities are part of the company’s potential. But you would be the one taking the financial risk to realize them.”

“So if I pay him based on what Brightpath could become, I’m paying for the results of work I haven’t done yet.”

“Exactly.”

Damian wrote that down.

He’d been thinking about the company’s potential as a reason to buy it. Maya was reminding him that potential could also become an excuse to overpay.

“What would you recommend?” he asked.

“Use the existing business as your starting point. Examine its current earnings, customer retention, liabilities, and likely future expenses. Then decide what the business is worth to you, taking the risks into account.”

“And not what Oliver hopes it’s worth.”

“Correct.”

Damian nodded.

“Do we have a valuation range?”

“We have a preliminary range, but I wouldn’t treat it as a final number until the accountant completes the reconciliation and the technical review is finished.”

She showed him the figures.

Damian studied them.

Brightpath wasn’t worthless. Far from it. The recurring revenue and customer relationships gave it a solid foundation.

But the valuation was lower than he might have guessed from the customer count alone.

He looked at Maya.

“Have you considered what happens if the customer base starts shrinking faster?”

“Yes. That’s one of the risks we’ve included in the assessment.”

“And if we spend money improving the product but customers still leave?”

“Then the return on that investment would be lower than expected. That’s why I’d recommend a staged development plan, with clear targets before committing to larger expenses.”

Damian leaned back.

“All right. I don’t want to buy a company and immediately throw money at every problem it has.”

“That’s sensible.”

“I want to know which improvements are likely to retain existing customers, which could attract new ones, and which are simply nice to have.”

Maya smiled.

“Then we’re on the same page.”

Damian closed his notebook.

“One question. Has Oliver given us an asking price yet?”

“Not formally.”

“Then we’re not negotiating against ourselves.”

Maya laughed.

“I’ll make a note of that.”

The Meridian update arrived just before lunch.

Maya had received a preliminary legal assessment, and the findings were enough to make Damian postpone his meal.

“The attorney has identified two separate issues,” she explained over the phone. “The first concerns Rachel’s retained rights. The second concerns Northstar’s approval requirements if the ownership or control of Meridian changes.”

“Can either issue prevent the acquisition?”

“Potentially, but we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. The attorney needs to examine the full agreements and determine which approvals are required.”

“Does Michael know?”

“He knows we’re reviewing the documents. We haven’t discussed the preliminary findings in detail yet.”

Damian rubbed his forehead.

“All right. What’s the next step?”

“We need the remaining documents from Northstar and a meeting with Rachel. After that, the attorney should be able to advise us on possible solutions.”

“Could we negotiate a license with Rachel?”

“Possibly. We could also explore an assignment of rights or another arrangement, depending on what she actually owns and what the original agreement allows.”

“And Northstar?”

“That depends on the protective provisions in its agreements. We need to know exactly which decisions require approval and whether those provisions apply to this transaction.”

Damian looked at the Meridian folder on his desk.

He had initially thought the main challenge would be negotiating a reasonable purchase price.

Now the price was almost secondary.

A cheap acquisition could still be a terrible investment if he couldn’t legally develop the product or make important decisions without somebody else’s permission.

“Don’t let Michael rush us,” Damian said.

“I won’t.”

“And please make sure the attorney distinguishes between what we know and what we’re merely assuming. I don’t want a report full of guesses dressed up as conclusions.”

“Understood.”

When the call ended, Damian sat quietly for a moment.

He had spent weeks getting to this point with Meridian.

He’d met Michael, examined the accounts, spoken to customers, negotiated the price, and started imagining what the business might look like under new ownership.

Walking away would be frustrating.

It might also be the smartest decision he made.

He opened his notes and added a sentence at the top of the page.

The time already spent investigating a deal is not a reason to complete it.

Then he saved the document and went to get lunch.

That afternoon, Damian visited Westbridge Solutions.

He hadn’t been to the office in several days, and Daniel Hart had asked him to come by for an update on the university pilot.

The office looked busier than it had during Damian’s first visit. Sarah Mitchell was discussing a support issue with one of the team members, while another employee sat at a desk comparing figures on two screens.

Daniel emerged from his office when he saw Damian.

“Good timing. Come in.”

They settled around the small meeting table.

“How’s the pilot going?” Damian asked.

“Well,” Daniel replied. “Better than we expected in some areas.”

Sarah joined them with her laptop.

“Student completion rates remain strong, and support requests are still lower than our initial projections. We’ve also received more inquiries from universities.”

“Any confirmed contracts?”

“Not yet. One institution has asked for a more detailed proposal, and another wants a demonstration. We’re working through those requests.”

Damian nodded.

“Good. Just don’t let the interest push us into promising more than we can deliver.”

Daniel smiled.

“I was going to say the same thing.”

Sarah brought up the latest report.

“We’re also reviewing the onboarding process. Some students move through it quickly, but others need more guidance. We want to make the first experience easier without adding unnecessary steps.”

“Can the current team handle the additional university inquiries?”

“For now, yes. If two or three institutions move forward at once, we’ll need to reassess our support capacity.”

“Then let’s prepare for that possibility, but don’t hire people based on conversations that haven’t become contracts.”

Daniel nodded.

“Agreed.”

Damian looked through the figures.

Westbridge was different from Meridian and Brightpath.

He already had an investment in the company, and its current progress was encouraging. But the business still had limits. It couldn’t serve an unlimited number of institutions simply because the demand existed.

The challenge was to grow without damaging the things that had made the product attractive in the first place.

“What’s the biggest problem right now?” he asked.

Sarah thought about it.

“Consistency. The pilot is going well, but we need to make sure the experience remains good as the number of users increases. A process that works for fifty students might not work as smoothly for five hundred.”

“Then test it before expanding.”

“That’s the plan.”

Daniel folded his hands.

“Damian, I also wanted to ask how your other investments are going.”

Damian smiled.

“Complicated.”

“That bad?”

“One company has unresolved software rights and shareholder agreements. The other is profitable but needs development work and better customer retention.”

Daniel gave a low whistle.

“You’re learning the difficult side of acquisitions.”

“I thought the difficult side was finding the money.”

“That’s usually the easy part.”

Damian laughed.

Daniel leaned back.

“If I can offer one piece of advice, don’t confuse a company’s problems with an opportunity to prove yourself. Some problems are worth solving. Others cost more than the business can reasonably return.”

Damian glanced at him.

“Everyone’s giving me the same advice lately.”

“Maybe you should listen.”

“Maybe.”

They continued discussing Westbridge for another half hour before Damian headed out.

As he walked toward the elevator, he checked his phone.

Emily had sent him a picture of her mother smiling in the hospital bed, holding up a spoon like a trophy.

Emily: She finished her lunch today. The food didn’t stand a chance.

Damian smiled.

Damian: Tell her I’m proud of her.

Emily: She says she expects a proper visit from you soon.

Damian: I’ll come tomorrow.

Emily: Good. I miss you.

He typed a reply, deleted it, then typed another.

Damian: Miss you too. Let’s do something together this weekend, even if it’s just getting food and walking around.

Her answer came quickly.

Emily: I’d like that ??

Damian put the phone away.

He had spent so much time thinking about money that it was easy to forget what he actually wanted it for.

A comfortable life. More freedom. The ability to help people he cared about without worrying that doing so would leave him broke.

And, hopefully, enough time to enjoy those things.

He didn’t want his entire life to become a series of meetings about money.

That evening, Ethan showed up at Damian’s place with two takeaway bags.

Damian opened the door and stared at him.

“What’s this?”

“Dinner.”

“I can see that.”

“Then why are you asking?”

Damian stepped aside.

Ethan walked in, placed the bags on the table, and looked around.

“You’ve been working again.”

“How can you tell?”

“Your laptop is open, your notes are everywhere, and you have the face of a man who’s been arguing with a spreadsheet.”

Damian laughed.

“That’s surprisingly accurate.”

Ethan unpacked the food.

“Sit down. Eat something. You can go back to ruining your life afterward.”

Damian sat.

For the next few minutes, they ate without discussing acquisitions.

Then Ethan put down his fork.

“So, which company are you buying?”

Damian sighed.

“You’re obsessed.”

“I’m invested emotionally.”

“You haven’t invested a single dollar.”

“That’s why I’m emotionally invested. It’s cheaper.”

Damian shook his head.

“Neither deal is ready.”

Ethan waited.

“Meridian has legal issues we need to resolve. Brightpath has a good customer base, but it needs investment, and I don’t know the final cost of fixing the software.”

“So you might buy neither.”

“Yes.”

Ethan looked pleased.

“Good.”

“Why does that make you so happy?”

“Because a few weeks ago, you were talking about buying a company like you were choosing what to order for lunch.”

“I was not.”

“You absolutely were.”

Damian opened his mouth to argue, then stopped.

He remembered how excited he’d been when Michael first discussed selling Meridian. He’d started calculating what the company could become before he fully understood what it was.

Ethan wasn’t entirely wrong.

“I’ve learned a few things,” Damian admitted.

“Such as?”

“That revenue isn’t the same as profit. That customers can stay for years without being happy. That buying software doesn’t automatically mean you own everything inside it.”

Ethan nodded.

“And?”

“And that I should stop asking you for advice because you enjoy being right too much.”

Ethan burst out laughing.

“Now you’re learning.”

They finished dinner, watched a football match, and argued about a referee’s decision for nearly ten minutes.

For a while, Damian forgot about acquisition agreements, technical debt, and valuation ranges.

He was just a university student spending an evening with his best friend.

It felt good.

Later that night, Damian sat at his desk and reviewed his finances.

His current balance remained $5,099,924.32.

His Westbridge investment continued to develop, but the company had not announced a new contract that would justify changing his expectations. His acquisition plans remained under review, and he hadn’t committed any money to either Meridian or Brightpath.

The System’s golden screen appeared.

[INVESTMENT EVALUATION IN PROGRESS.]

[NO NEW QUALIFYING TRANSACTIONS.]

[CURRENT BALANCE: $5,099,924.32.]

Damian dismissed the display.

He opened a fresh document and wrote down his priorities for the next week.

Meridian

Obtain the complete shareholder agreements.Resolve Rachel’s retained rights.Confirm Northstar’s approval requirements.Complete the technical assessment.Recalculate the maximum sensible purchase price.

Brightpath

Finish the financial review.Obtain a reliable modernization estimate.Confirm the customer retention figures.Establish a transition plan with Oliver.Determine a maximum offer based on the business as it stands today.

He read the list once, then saved it.

There was no reason to hurry.

Oliver had given him two weeks. Meridian’s documents were being reviewed. Westbridge was progressing without requiring him to make an immediate decision.

For the first time since he started exploring acquisitions, Damian felt comfortable leaving money untouched.

He didn’t need to buy something just because he could.

He didn’t need to prove that he was becoming a businessman.

And he certainly didn’t need to let another buyer’s interest dictate his decisions.

He closed his laptop and got ready for bed.

Tomorrow would bring more questions.

He was beginning to accept that.

A good deal would still be a good deal after he finished asking them.