So what do you think?
“So what do you think?” Randy had finally gotten Guy alone. When the other VCs were around, Guy was tight-lipped or downright obtuse, so Randy couldn’t get a straight answer. Now they were alone in the resort bar, Randy hopped he could get some feedback.
Guy was a hard guy to read. He was always smiling and always the jokester, despite his serious nature. Like The Green Man personified, it was difficult to see past the smile to find the hard businessman underneath. When he finally answered, Guy was still smiling, “You were right. This wasn’t Ignite. This was speed dating for venture capitalists.” Randy felt himself smiling back, but knew that he needed to get past The Green Man facade to the hardcore businessman inside.
“Well, I’m going to take Tank’s Missionary Missives and Curly’s gym. Tank doesn’t need the funding, but he’s only seventeen years old, so I want to teach him how to set up advertising properly and…” Randy couldn’t articulate what he wanted. He felt a sort of fatherly protectiveness toward Tank, but mostly he didn’t want the kid to join the military. Anything he could do to keep Tank from following his brother’s path was a win in Randy’s eyes.
Guy’s laughing voice responded, “So you’re going to fund the two worst ideas in the group? Last thing the Internet needs is another blog network and this tiny town couldn’t support a gym. Why don’t you buy the sheep farm while you’re at it?” The two of them laughed as Randy replied, “Actually, I had no idea that most wool comes from Austrailia. Did you?”
The two of them drew from their respective drinks and observed the tired ski bunnies and snow bums. There was only a month of skiing left on the mountain and the resort had an air of desperation and last minute struggle to squeeze as much fun out of the time they had left. Guy’s wicked sense of humor attacked. “Jason seemed to be disappointed.” Randy refused to take the bait. “Jason is looking for something different than I am. He’s all about the quick sale. If we were in real estate, he’d be flipping houses.” Guy swirled the remains of his drink in the ice. “What would you be doing? Listing houses for sale?”
Randy looked at Guy and finally realized the difference between himself and his old business partner. Guy wasn’t going to bite on any of the opportunities that were out here. “No, Guy. I’d be building towns.”