The Last Network - Chapter 53
Business Class
Kendra walked into the Coffee Bean. Terry Walker was sitting in the back, a green tea next to his iPad. They were on neutral ground, halfway between NAM’s headquarters in Los Gatos and Terry’s office in Palo Alto. Terry was Kendra’s closest friend on NAM’s board, which is why she knew he’d swing the axe.
The timing was bad, but was there ever really a good time? The board wasn’t interested in Kendra’s financial situation, it was interested in NAM’s performance, which sucked. She ordered a latte with skim milk then turned to meet her fate.
“Terry, good to see you.”
Walker was wearing his everyday uniform, khakis, a pale blue button up shirt, and oxfords. His dirty blonde hair was parted to the side, the same way it had been since he was a teen. He made his style choices in prep school and stuck to them ever since. Minimalism took him young. If you ever wanted to hear Terry talk, ask his opinion on decision fatigue.
He looked up from his iPad, his mouth was drawn tight, his analytical eyes fixed on her. Kendra could tell the decision had already been made. He didn’t get up, instead he pointed to the opposite seat.
“Kendra, thank you for coming all the way out here. How was traffic?”
“Fine, Terry. Did you make it down ok?”
“No problems at all.”
“Good.”
He put his iPad down, pushed his glasses up, and leaned back in his chair. She braced herself.
“Kendra, as you know, the board has a duty to make sure that NAM is being managed optimally. You also know that Walker, Wesley, Sweetman takes a long-term approach to their investments. At the same time, we need to be cognizant of reality.”
“Terry, I...”
He held up his hand. “Please, let me continue. This is difficult for me, as I’m sure it will be for you. Kendra, we made an unusual bet on you back in 2017. At the time, machine learning was showing outsized promise. We bet that the field would continue on that pathway and we bet that you were the right person to implement those advances. Things did not turn out that way. The field has stagnated, and you have not demonstrated growth capabilities outside of your core expertise. Today we need to start the process of winding down that bet. It is time to salvage what we can.”
It was Kendra’s turn to put up her hand. “Enough pussyfooting Terry. Just give it to me.”
“You’re out.”
“That’s a mistake, Terry.”
“No, it’s not, Kendra. We intend to sell NAM off. While you’ve done a serviceable job of operating it, you failed to achieve the scale necessary for it to be a stand-alone business.”
“If you are selling it, then why not leave me on to help with the process?”
“Because you’ll be a hinderance to the process and frankly, you cost too much.”
“Who will take over?”
“Yuri and Gretchen will step up and run the day to day, but I’ll be acting CEO. I hope that you’ll be available should I have any questions.”
“Of course, Terry.”
“We are asking you to resign to pursue other opportunities. I know you are in the middle of a large real estate project. Please name that as the reason. We want you to walk away immediately. You’ll receive the company’s standard severance package of one week’s salary for each year served and we’ll make you eligible for COBRA benefits. Unfortunately, most of your later options will price underwater, but you’ll do okay on your early grants.”
Her face went flush. “Terry, those were massively diluted. This isn’t how it’s done.”
“Kendra, we need to send a message. NAM is a lean mean automation machine. A more generous severance package is out of step with the company’s culture. Please hand me your badge.”
She began to boil red. “I’m not allowed back in?”
“In time we’ll welcome you back as our founder, but right now I think we all need space. I hope you’ll make this easy for me, there’s a lot to be done.”
“Like what?” she asked, wondering how deep the humiliation went.
“There are certain clients we need to let go of. Our association with Rabbit Wilson and Peared is problematic relative to its contribution to EBITDA.”
Panic kicked in. “Sell the Peared relationship off to the employees, let them spin it out.”
“Kendra, having a copy of our AI with a skilled staff of operators out there would create a lower cost competitor to us and hurt the sale value of NAM.”
“There are ways to handcuff that business. Those are good people, let them earn a living.”
“We’ll do our best to refer those employees to other opportunities. Internally or externally. Kendra, I have to ask you to step out of this now. It’s no longer your concern. You need to start thinking about your second act and who will support you when the time is right. Do you understand?”
The question hung in the air, the implications unspoken but all too obvious. Kendra hung her head knowing that she would need Terry to be her bridge back to the Valley.
“I do.”
“I’m sorry Kendra, but this is for the best. Now if you will excuse me, I need to get down to Los Gatos.”
Terry offered his hand to Kendra and she gave him a perfunctory shake. She didn’t get up; instead she stared straight ahead as he walked out of the building. While Walker, Wesley, Sweetman took a long-term approach to their investments, they cut bait faster than anyone else in the Valley. Terry wouldn’t have pulled the trigger today if he didn’t already have a buyer lined up. Like most VCs, he only acted when all the questions were removed, and the outcome was obvious. This was bad. She knew the axe was coming, but had counted on Paolo’s team remaining in place. Malcolm was now her only source of income, and they couldn’t do those jobs without God Mode.
Who knows how Rabbit would react once he heard the news. Without NAM he was fucked.