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these last eight years, between being led by someone who was aggressive and eager, and someone who was simply a jerk. So this first team meeting was her chance to set the tone, right from the start, of what these associates and analysts could expect while working for her.
    With that in mind, she folded her hands on the table. “Over the last few weeks, I’ve met with all of you individually, and we’ve had general conversations about some possibilities I want to explore with this fund. But, seeing how this is the first time we’re all sitting down together, I thought we should discuss my specific vision for this project.
    “When I first began talking to the partners about the possibility of coming to work for Monroe Ellers, they asked what my strategy would be in running a successful fund. My answer was simple: I told them that I like to grow companies. I look for businesses that have potential—maybe an established company that’s struggling and needs a new direction, or perhaps a smaller business that has a marketable idea but doesn’t have the resources to expand. That’s where we come in—we find that potential and we cultivate it. And, hopefully, we make a lot of money for our clients in the process.”
    Sidney saw a few smiles at that. The room was nodding along and appeared to be responding well to her speech. Then again, five out of the six people at the table had huge coffee cups in front of them, so it could’ve just been the caffeine kicking in. “So the four-billion-dollar question becomes, which companies do we believe have that kind of potential? As it so happens, I have a few ideas on that front.” She fired up the PowerPoint presentation she’d prepared on her laptop, which sat in front of her.
    A photograph of a storefront popped onto the white screen in front of them. “Vitamin Boutique. Primarily a Midwest-based specialty retailer of, you guessed it, vitamins, with 125 stores across twelve states. I met last week with the investment bankers representing the company. They tell me that they’re looking for an opportunity to grow beyond the Midwest, expand into other distribution channels, and significantly bolster their online presence. They made it clear that they’re interested in a buyout.”
    Sidney saw that the associates and analysts around the table had begun diligently taking notes. “By the way, you’ll be dividing into two teams and splitting this list, so start thinking about which companies you want to spend the next four weeks learning inside and out. Standard due diligence: all their financials, pending lawsuits, who their corporate lawyers are, and how big of a pain in the ass those lawyers are going to be if we do the deal.”
    One of the associates, Spencer, let out a bark of laughter. Then he stopped abruptly as if uncertain.
    Sidney nodded encouragingly. “No, you were right, that was another joke. Let’s not hold back here, people, we’ll be working together on this project for the next five or six years. Feel free to chuckle away at these witty little comments of mine whenever it strikes your—hey, there we go, now the room’s warming up . . .” Over their laughter, she clicked the touchpad on her computer and the logo for another company popped onto the screen. “All right. Next up, Evergreen Candles.”
    The meeting continued for another thirty minutes, after which the team members dispersed. Sidney hung around the conference room for a few minutes to talk with an associate who had some questions, then made her way back to her office.
    She heard a knock on her door a few minutes later and looked up just as Michael Hannigan popped his head into her office. The youngest of the three partners on the firm’s investment committee, he’d been the one who’d recruited her the most aggressively and had become a mentor to her since she’d started working at Monroe Ellers.
    “I heard you killed it in your first team meeting,” Michael said.
    Sidney never ceased