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I couldn’t believe it. I don’t have anything against soro
rities, but the way she delivered the presentation made me wonder how she even met our GPA requirement. A 3.5 wasn’t too high, and we thought it would weed out, well, people who want to open a sorority dating site of sorts.
“So, how do you think this matches up with anything our company has been doing?” Jake asked in his no bullshit voice. I tapped his foot with mine, I really didn’t want to watch anyone crying again.
One time he was so hard and mean, that the guy started crying and broke down saying he didn’t know why he was so worthless. I kept tabs on him for some reason, and found out he is now an assistant professor at a junior college. His idea was really good, he just didn’t want to sell.
“How do you mean?” She replied with a smile. I relaxed a bit.
“Do you even know what kind of companies we invest in?” He asked.
She blinked rapidly, and shook her head once. Jake scoffed and started writing on the ‘no’ pen pad. He wrote her name down, and then held it up for her to see.
“We won’t be in touch. Thank you.”
She dropped her jaw like she expected to be handed the job instead. But eventually, she started packing up to leave. We either use their idea as a springboard and actually open the business, with a three-month plan and make them the CEO. It is much easier than outsourcing yet another job. Or, we see it as a really good seed we want only our name on, and buy them out.
Out of the thirty here today, only one would actually get the CEO job. And out of the rest, three would be bought out. So, I was prepared for twenty-six shitty presentations.
“I have to say, it was kind of a good idea.” I told him. Jake frowned. I think he just had an affliction with sororities.
Back in college, he slept his way through Tri Delta, and somehow expected them to not tell everyone they knew. One girl in particular was his repeat, and he thought they were monogamous for a while. That was the last time he tried that. Because he found out from their brother fraternity that she was sleeping with them too, and they call her Wendy because she is four for four. To save herself, she blogged about rating all the men she had slept with. Jake was last.
So, the last presentation didn’t stand a chance.
“Maybe. But sorority girls…can you imagine having to go in for reporting?” He shuddered. But he was right. I didn’t want to imagine it.
We sat through twenty-two more presentations. Disappointing, and unfortunate. The very last one, her PowerPoint wouldn’t come up and she wasn’t good at extemporaneous delivery, so she tried to explain it without any graphics or supplemental material. If it was her idea, she should have been able to.
And Jake ripped her apart for it. She about ran out of there in tears.
“That was so mean,” I mumbled.
“Yeah. This is shitty man, what if we don’t find anyone?”
I shrugged.
“Then we set our sights on a different school.” He shook his head, looking at who was next.
I crossed all my fingers, hoping Madeline Jackson would save the day.
2
Madeline
I spent the entire night wondering if was too late to change my major.
Eventually, I came to the conclusion that since I was a senior nine weeks from graduating, it kind of was.
I was going through my presentation over and over, and I would mess up something different each time. I groaned in frustration multiple times and collapsed on my couch, defeated. It wouldn’t do me any good to stay up all night, but I had to get it right.
This meeting with Collegium Corp was my big break. I was riding on it since January when I was told I was in the final selection, and could deliver my presentation in person to two of the most influential businessmen and investors in the city. I didn’t even know what they looked like, but I knew everything they did from top to bottom.
I memorized all their dates and numbers too. The exact day their gym, their springboard investment opened, when they started buying out investors, and when their company grossed a billion dollars in one investment period. They were a force to be reckoned with and I knew I had to do something to get their attention.
I purposefully didn’t want to see any photos because it would throw me off, I just thought of them as two springboards. They have a buyout option, but I didn’t want it. I wanted to be a CEO. It was why I double majored in business entrepreneurship and management. I was top of my class and had a perfect GPA. I looked good on paper. Now, I just had to blow them away in person.
“Oh my God, are you still up?” My roommate and best friend, Sarai, scared me half to death.
