Chapter 268: News

"I thought you’d agree," said Fischer. "I’ll have something to you by end of day Tuesday."

"I’ll have responses by Thursday morning," said Clara.

"Which means you’ll have them by Wednesday evening," said Fischer, with the specific quality of someone who had done enough business with enough CFOs to understand that when Clara Weston said Thursday morning she meant she’d been working on it since Tuesday night.

Clara’s expression shifted slightly. "Wednesday evening," she confirmed.

Something in Fischer’s voice carried the warmth of someone who had found what he was looking for. "Good," he said. "One more thing."

"Yes," said Sean.

"The shareholder analysis produced during the contested bid," said Fischer. "The document about Meridian’s acquisition history. I’ve shared it with two other investors I respect who have been watching the Vertex situation. Both of them want to be in the conversation about the round."

Sean and Clara both absorbed that.

"Who," said Clara.

Fischer named them.

Clara wrote both names on her notepad and underlined both.

Sean knew one of the names from the sector research he’d done months ago. A fund with a genuine technology infrastructure focus and a track record of patient capital. The second name was less familiar but the specific fund Fischer named had the quality Clara was looking for in the cap table analysis, investors whose mandate aligned with what Vertex was building rather than a specific exit timeline.

"I’ll make introductions after you’ve reviewed my term structure thoughts," said Fischer. "No point in expanding the conversation before the parameters are understood."

"Agreed," said Clara.

The call ran another twenty minutes. Specific. Productive. The particular quality of a conversation between people who had all read the same material properly and were now working with it rather than around it.

When Fischer signed off Clara was quiet for a moment.

"The compliance timeline," she said.

"Derek is pulling the update now," said Sean.

"If it’s what Fischer says it is," she said.

"It will be," said Sean.

"The round size he proposed," she said.

"Yes," he said.

"The board approved a parameter range on Wednesday," she said. "What Fischer is describing is above that range."

"I know," he said.

"We’ll need another board conversation," she said.

"I know," he said.

"Thomas is going to need to see the updated numbers before he’ll move on the range," she said.

"Fischer’s term structure document will help," he said. "It’s easier to expand the parameter range when the rationale is documented rather than verbal."

"Yes," she said.

She was writing something on the notepad, the specific shorthand she used when she was building a to-do list from a conversation.

"Clara," he said.

"Yes."

"The two investors Fischer mentioned," he said. "The second one. Can you tell me more about them when you have time."

"I’ll pull everything I have and send it tonight," she said. "I don’t know them directly but I know people who do."

"Good," he said.

A pause.

"This is moving faster than I modeled," she said.

"Yes," he said.

"Is that a problem," she said.

"No," he said. "Moving fast is only a problem when you’re not ready for what fast produces. We’re ready."

She held the phone for a moment.

"How do you know that," she said.

"Because you already have a notepad full of the right questions and you’ll have responses to Fischer’s term structure by Wednesday evening and Marcus and Derek built a cap table analysis that a twenty-two year veteran fund manager called conservative in the right direction." He paused. "That’s ready."

A silence.

"Sean," she said.

"Yeah."

"Two and a half weeks," she said.

He looked at the whiteboard.

Three weeks. The fourth line.

"Three," he said. "Your model was optimistic."

"My models are never optimistic," she said.

"This one was," he said.

A pause that had something warm in it.

"We’ll see," she said. Then the professional composure firmly back in position: "I’ll send the Fischer follow-up notes this afternoon. And the information on the second investor tonight."

"Send the investor information first," he said. "The Fischer notes can wait until tomorrow."

"Why first," she said.

"Because it’s the unknown one," he said. "The unknown ones are always more interesting."

A brief pause.

"That’s true," she said. "Okay. Investor information first."

She ended the call.

Derek called eleven minutes later.

"The implementation schedule," said Derek. "Fischer was right. Jurisdictions two and four accelerated. Twelve months not eighteen. The announcement was buried in a regulatory filing Thursday afternoon."

"How buried," said Sean.

"Eighty-three pages into a combined implementation document," said Derek. "Someone who wasn’t specifically looking for it would miss it."

"Fischer found it," said Sean.

"Fischer’s team found it," said Derek. "Which tells you something about the quality of his research operation."

"Yes," said Sean. "Update the second scenario in the cap table. I’ll need the revised numbers for the board conversation."

"I’ll have it tonight," said Derek. "Sean."

"Yeah."

"The compliance advantage," said Derek. "Twelve months instead of eighteen. The revenue projection moves by."

"Thirty-one percent," said Sean. "Fischer’s calculation."

A pause. "I got thirty-three," said Derek. "In my model."

Sean held the phone.

"Send me your model when you send the update," he said.

"Already planning to," said Derek.

===========================

Thursday

Sean arrived at five fifty-eight.

Marcus was already there.

He was sitting at the table with his laptop open but not looking at it, which was new. Marcus usually arrived looking at the laptop. Tonight he was sitting back in his chair with the expression of someone who had been thinking about something for four days and had arrived at a position he was satisfied with.

"You know," said Marcus, when Sean sat down.

"About the compliance timeline," said Sean.

"Thirty-three percent upward," said Marcus. "On the second scenario. Derek and I ran it separately and got the same number." He paused. "Which never happens."

"It happened because you both built the model correctly," said Sean.

"Or because the number is actually thirty-three," said Marcus.

"Both," said Sean.