The Last Network - Chapter 21
Office Party
The DJ took a break from the music, and Rabbit stepped onto the makeshift stage in the middle of their office. They were celebrating two milestones: Peared’s 25th million download and hitting 500,000 concurrent pairs. Both were huge accomplishments for a product that had struggled out of the gate just six months earlier. They were now the number one app in eight different countries. Peared scavenger hunts were the hottest activity in India, Colombia, and the Philippines. Even better, Peared was transitioning from a toy to a tool.
Em gathered Sonny and Paolo in the far corner of the office. More than anyone, the three of them were responsible for tonight’s success and they barely knew each other. She suspected that was intentional. Rabbit didn’t like office alliances. He didn’t like questioning. His playbook was to isolate employees, then push them hard to get what he wanted. Either they responded to his tactics or he disposed of them.
While everyone knew the Frank Meyers story, Sonny and Paolo didn’t know about Nadia Camiso, or the hostile work environment claims at Smash House. None of those were a smoking gun, but they added up to a troubling pattern. Left alone, Rabbit went too far.
Peared was now a rocket ship and success overwhelmed Em’s instincts to walk away. After weeks of turning Rabbit down, she finally accepted his offer and came on board as Chief Marketing Officer. Tasked with building out the marketing department, she was ready to reach into her network to fill positions, but first needed to unite with Paolo and Sonny. As allies they could keep Rabbit under control. As allies they could protect their stock options.
“All I am saying is that he doesn’t work like most people. You need to be on your toes and we need to be united,” Em said as she led them into a conference room away from prying eyes.
“You don’t trust him?” Sonny asked.
“Look, he’s brilliant and he’s determined. I trust him 99% of the time, the thing is, no one is perfect. Rabbit doesn’t let people in. He doesn’t trust anyone enough to hear he’s wrong. When he gets into trouble that other 1% of the time it’s because no one’s there to pull him back.”
Realizing this wasn’t a casual conversation, Paolo placed his drink on the table and gave her his full attention. “And you’re suggesting the three of us pull him back?”
“Something like that. If the three of us are in contact, if we keep in touch, and we present a united front, we can steer Rabbit away from trouble. I’m sure you’ve all felt lonely in this job, but you haven’t said anything about it. You’ve just soldiered on because you have high expectations for yourselves. I’m like that too. He picks people like us on purpose, so that he can run the show his way. We need to be a little smarter than him. This isn’t going to be some big drama show. All we have to do is anticipate his blind spots and solve those problems before he mucks them up.”
Sonny looked past Em, across the office, towards the stage where Rabbit was. “If that’s all you are asking, I have no problem tackling issues before he’s aware of them,” Sonny said.
“I’m in as well,” Paolo said.
Em looked at Paolo and then Sonny. “Good, let’s keep Rabbit from shooting himself and Peared in the foot. You need anything involving him, you come to me. I understand how he thinks, and I’ll tell you how to handle him.”