The Start-Up by Sadie Hayes Read Free Book Online Page A

better off working for myself.”
    The lion was getting close, hiding behind a bush.
    “Sure,” Tom offered. “Working for yourself is great. Set your own hours, make the decisions. It can be a lot of pressure, though,” Tom said, half listening as he looked past T. J.’s head to the television.
    T. J. laughed. “Oh, I think I can handle the pressure. I had a project last summer where I had forty-eight hours to finish a one-hundred-fifty-page pitch deck for a critical client meeting. I literally slept for four hours over two days—didn’t leave the office, didn’t shower, had all my meals delivered to my desk—but it went off without a hitch.” The TV cut off right as the lion was closing in on the herd, snapping Tom back to the conversation. “What’s a pitch deck?” Tom glanced at the waitress, then at the television, indicating she ought to turn it back on, which she did, as T. J. continued. “A pitch deck is something you make in PowerPoint, then print out and bind and give to clients. It explains the costs and benefits of a deal. So, there are a ton of charts and graphs explaining everything.”
    “So, you came up with one-hundred-fifty pages of charts and graphs in forty-eight hours?” The adult elephants saw the lion and started to charge, the mother placing herself between the lion and the baby but—it cut out again. Dammit!
    “Oh, no. I checked the spelling and the alignment and made sure there weren’t any typos. The charts and everything are pretty standard for the company and just have to be updated and pasted into the deck.”
    “Ah.” Tom beckoned the waitress. “What’s going on with the television?”
    “I’m not sure, Mr. Fenway. Let me check to see why it keeps cutting out.”“Thanks, love.” Tom smiled and looked back at T. J. “Here’s the thing, T.
    J. I think there are a lot of people who think they want to be entrepreneurs, but they don’t really. I mean, starting a company is tough. You have to put your life and reputation into your idea, to live and breathe it all the time.
    And no matter how great you think your idea is when you start out, you question it sometimes. It can be easy to get sidelined by people who tell you it’s impossible.”
    T. J. smiled. He’d heard this before. “I totally understand that. I think growing up in Silicon Valley has given me a great perspective on the commitment it takes. And having been through two corporate internships, I know I have the motivation to stick with it.” Tom nodded. This kid was obviously bright and polished, but he didn’t have the spark. It wasn’t his fault—most kids didn’t. “So, what’s your idea?”
    “My idea?”
    “Yeah. You want to join the incubator, so what business idea are you working on?” The TV flickered back to life. Now the lion was devouring the baby elephant. The rest of the herd had vanished.
    “Well, I don’t actually have an idea yet. I think that’s what’s so great about the incubator. It gives you time to really think about an idea.” Tom chuckled at this. “Oh, I don’t know that sitting around in an office on Sand Hill Road is going to suddenly inspire an idea!” Again! The TV cut out. What was going on? Tom sat forward in his chair and looked around the room. Was anyone else seeing this? A girl at a table in the corner was holding—was that a remote? No, it was her phone, but she was pointing it at the television. What was she doing? “Excuse me a second, T. J.”
    Tom stood up and walked over to the girl. “Excuse me, Miss?” The girl, a pretty young thing who was obviously shy, looked up anxiously from her computer at the man standing over her.
    “May I ask you a question, Miss … ?”
    “Oh … uh, Dory. Amelia Dory,” she said, not used to being approached by strangers.
    “Well, Miss Dory, may I ask you a question? What were you just doing with your phone?”
    Amelia blushed from behind her glasses. “Oh, I—I’m so sorry. Were you watching?”
    “I