Read The Term Sheet: A Startup Thriller Novel for Free Online

oil on water or wilt like cut flowers in the sun. But these code monkeys welcomed the woman as one of them, and greeted her warmly.
    “That’s Andrea, our fearless leader. Want to meet her?”
    “Yeah,” they both said in unison.
    “She’s usually on back-to-back phone calls, but you can occasionally grab her for a minute.”
    As they made their way through a meadow of couches, David noticed a wall covered in what appeared to be a huge crossword puzzle. A couple of geeks were standing at the wall, filling in words in different parts of the puzzle. Down a corridor, there appeared to be a large metal tube that another employee was crouching into. Jeni jogged to catch up with Andrea’s quick pace.
    “Andrea, I’d like you to meet David and Andrew.”
    “I am really excited to meet you,” said David.
    “Nice to meet you too, David.” Andrea wasn’t nearly as young as he initially thought. Up close, he noticed neck and forehead wrinkles that aged her, but she was so well put together in a fitted Kelly green sheath dress, white knitted cardigan, and white pumps that she pulled off looking much younger.
    “Thanks for letting us come see the office,” said Andrew. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. It’s awesome.”
    “We're keen to recruit and keep Portland’s best talent. I’m glad you both could come. Has Jeni shown you around?”
    “We just picked up some coffee. I was going to show them the inter-floor slide next,” interjected Jeni before the guys could answer.
    “Actually, I just started a company recently, and I would really appreciate some advice if we could schedule a coffee or something,” said David.
    “Jeni, why don’t you finish the tour with Andrew. I have a couple minutes before my next conference call starts. I can take David to my desk for a chat.”
    “Careful,” said Andrew. “David will talk your ear off if you let him.” David blushed. Andrew winked and turned back to Jeni as they walked away. Andrea escorted David a few desks down. She pulled up a second chair and invited David to sit.
    “I thought you would have a big fancy office,” said David.
    “I do my calls from shared private offices, but I try to spend as much time with my people as possible. So how can I help you?”
    David felt nervous and excited. He didn’t know how much he should really say, given that he had just met this woman. But he figured if anyone could help, it would be she.
    “I just bought a website in an auction that sells jellyfish tanks. It’s based on a drop-ship system so I don’t need to buy inventory. All I have to do is get people interested in buying them. The problem is that I haven’t sold any yet. The website was super popular a year ago, but I’m having trouble making it relevant again. How do I get people to find me?”
    “I see. Let’s back up. Tell me your story.” Andrea sat in her chair and waved for David to sit near her.
    “Well, I started using computers when I was little. I was really good at programming—took to it like a fish to water.”
    “Or a jellyfish.”
    David blushed. “Yes. A jellyfish. Anyway, I read The 4-Hour Workweek and Hackers & Painters and realized that I could do that. I realized that I could make money on the Internet with my skills by carving out a niche. So I started looking on auction websites and found the jellyfish site and thought I could use my computer skills to revive it. I thought it would be a slam dunk. I’m good at SEO and design, so I just needed to give it a new look and give it some new content. Easy.”
    Andrea leaned forward with a pensive look in her eyes. “So that’s why you’re doing this? The money?”
    “Well, no. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. I hate working for other people.” David looked at his watch. 11:56 a.m. He worried he was out of time, but Andrea didn’t seem concerned with her next meeting. Her light brown eyes were focused only on him.
    “David, please, I am not judging, just asking. It’s