Michael Ridpath - Final Venture

We moved on to new deals, of which the most interesting was Tetracom. Diane was an excellent presenter. She fed her audience information in such a way that they jumped to positive conclusions before she did. I knew there were still plenty of questions to be asked, but listening to her, it seemed that we should sign up on the spot. She finished her description with a note of caution, saying that she and I would be in Cincinnati the following week to clear up some detailed points. Mauer was impressed. We all were.

We came to the end of the meeting. Gil clearly thought it had gone well. He finished up by turning to Mauer.

'Lynette, perhaps you could tell us something about the Bieber Foundation's plans. As you know, we're raising a new fund next year. We look forward to welcoming you into it.'

Lynette smiled all round. 'Yes, there is something I'd like to say to all of you.' Gil stiffened first. This wasn't in the script. The rest of us looked on, our interest quickened.

'I'd like to thank all of you for the work you've done for us over the last few years. As you know, the Bieber Foundation has invested in your funds since the beginning. And your returns have been good, thanks in large part to BioOne.' A nice smile for Art. 'And of course to Frank Cook, who was responsible for so many successful investments.' She paused, out of deference to his memory.

There was a but. We were all waiting for the but.

'But we have had a recent change of policy. In future the Foundation will consolidate its investment in venture capital into two or maybe three firms. We will be reviewing all our venture capital investments, including Revere.'

The sweet smile stayed on her lips. Gil looked confused.

'I'm sure we can count on your continued investment in our funds, Lynette,' he said smoothly.

'Perhaps. But I wouldn't rely on it, Gil.'

'But, Lynette, our returns…'

'I have analysed your returns, and if you take out BioOne and Frank Cook's investments you are left with a performance that isn't quite as good as some of your competitors. You seem to have missed the Internet bus almost entirely.'

'Art, here, looked into that market, and concluded it was all hype. We firmly believe those companies are overvalued.'

'They've made a lot of people a lot of money,' said Lynette.

The firm had made some investments in the area in the early days. Frank had done a couple of successful small deals, and then Art came up with two spectacular disasters, which had set the firm's returns back significantly. Art's conclusion was that the problem was with the market, not his investing skills, and he had urged a policy of avoiding the sector. Frank and I had only been able to squeeze Net Cop through the investment committee by arguing that it was building the nuts and bolts of the Internet rather than an ephemeral 'community' in cyberspace. In truth, many of the Internet stocks had been hyped to the stratosphere. But most of our competitors had made money putting them there, and Mauer knew this.

'Perhaps we should discuss this in my office,' said Gil hurriedly.

'Why, certainly, if you like,' said Mauer.

The meeting broke up. Daniel strolled over to the small woman. 'Ms Mauer?'

'Yes?'

'Daniel Hall. I noticed you are a major investor in Beaufort Technologies. I just wanted to suggest that you should perhaps take your profits. The stock is due for a big correction.'

Mauer's eyes flicked up at Daniel. 'Why? What's wrong with Beaufort?'

'Nothing's wrong with the company,' Daniel said. 'It's just that the market's love affair with 3-D animation is wearing thin. It's going out of fashion.'

Gil was glaring at Daniel, but he had Mauer's attention. 'Thank you,' she said, and followed Gil out of the room.

'Talk about a death wish,' I said to Daniel as we made our way back to our office. 'You just about kissed goodbye to your career back there.'

Daniel smiled. 'Beaufort's going down. Lynette Mauer will remember I told her. And when it does fall, she'll be glad I warned her, and so will Gil.'

'Maybe. If we still have a firm by then. But if Bieber pulls out, so might some of the other investors.'

'Oh, Revere will survive,' said Daniel. 'And she saw right through Art, didn't she? That was just great!'

Maybe. Or maybe Revere was falling apart about our ears.

'Ayot, come with me! Gil's office. Now!'

It was Monday afternoon. I looked up from my work. Art was standing at the door to our office, his face was red, his short grey hair bristling.

John and Daniel turned open-mouthed. I slowly followed Art.

Gil was standing stiffly behind his desk as I came in, his weather-beaten face grim.

'Sit down, Simon,' he said coldly.

I took one of Gil's armchairs. The two older men seated themselves opposite me. Art could barely contain himself, his big forearms wrapped across his broad chest in an effort to suppress his anger.

Gil leaned forward towards me. 'Art tells me that you are responsible for a serious breach of confidence. Very serious.'

Oh Lisa, Lisa!

'Apparently someone has told the Boston Peptides management about BioOne's bid for the company. This has raised major difficulties with the negotiations, which were at a delicate stage.'

'You bet it has!' Art couldn't contain himself any longer. 'We've had to cave in to management's demands right away. We'll have to make a public announcement tomorrow morning. This is going to cost us money!'

'Art believes you were responsible for this leak. Is he correct?'

The eyes peered at me through those lenses. I wouldn't lie to Gil.

I nodded. 'I'm sorry.'

'Sorry!' screamed Art. 'I tell you not to do something, and you go right ahead and do it anyway! Sorry isn't good enough. Anyway, couldn't you have gotten your wife to keep her big mouth shut?'

'I did ask her to-' I said.

'And she took no notice. If you can't trust your own wife, you shouldn't have spoken to her! Stupid bitch.'

'Hey!' I rose from my chair, the anger boiling up inside me.

'That's enough!' Gil put his hand on my arm. 'That's enough, Art. I know you're angry but let's keep the personal comments out of it. Take it easy, Simon.'

I glared at Art and sat down.

Gil turned to me. 'What you did today was a serious breach of trust. The firm has gone out of its way to back you up these last few days. We expect loyalty in return. I expect loyalty in return.'

'I know. I'm sorry, Gil. It's just it was the kind of secret I didn't want to keep from my wife.'

'That's not good enough, Simon, and you know it,' Gil said. 'Art suggested that we should try to keep the whole deal away from you until it's announced publicly. I told him no. We're a small firm, and we have to be able to trust each other. Frankly, I thought we could trust you. And it's not a question of us making you lie to your wife. We were just expecting you to behave ethically and professionally. That's not unreasonable is it?'

I sighed. 'No, it's not.'

'OK. At many firms this would be enough to get you fired. But we don't work that way here. Let this be a warning to you. I don't expect to see any signs of a breach of trust in your colleagues again.'

'OK, Gil. And I am sorry'

I left his office seething. I marched straight back to my desk and picked up the phone, ignoring the stares of John and Daniel. I punched in a number.

'Lisa Cook.'

'You told Henry about the take-over, didn't you?'

There was a moment's silence. Then Lisa's voice, curt and crisp. 'Maybe.'

'What do you mean, "Maybe"? You either did or you didn't!'

'It was important to Boston Peptides. Henry told me he would treat the information carefully.'

'Well, he didn't, did he?' A small voice inside told me to calm down, get a hold of myself. But it was too late. It had been a stressful week for me too. 'Lisa, I can't believe you'd do that to me! I only told you about the take-over because I felt I had to. Because you're my wife, and I felt I could trust you. But I couldn't could I? The deal's blown wide open, Art's furious, and I just got a massive bollocking from Gil. It's lucky I wasn't fired.'