We can negotiate the exact number. It won't be large in exchange for capital that buys you 12 to 18 months of runway, the ability to hire properly, and access to my network, which in this city is worth more than the capital. He paused. I've looked at your work, Marcus. I've talked to everyone who's hired you.
I know what you've built. It is not a struggling small business. It is an underfunded excellent one. Those are two completely different things and only one of them is worth investing in. Marcus was quiet.
I hear you starting to say no. Richard said, I haven't said anything yet. I know, but I know what you're thinking. You're thinking it's charity. Is it?
Marcus said, "No, it's a calculation. I have made investments throughout my career. Marcus and the single best predictor of return is not the market or the business model. It's the character of the person running the thing. I have been watching your character for 2 months.
I know what I'm looking at. Marcus looked at the man across from him. He thought about what it meant to have someone see you. Not the struggling contractor, not the single father doing his best, but the actual man with his actual capabilities and make a decision based on that. He thought about how rare that was.
"There's no condition attached to this," Marcus said carefully. "No, nothing tied to anything else." Richard looked at him directly. "Nothing tied to anything else," he confirmed. "This is a business decision, a straightforward one, a pause. My personal life and my business decisions operate separately.
Always have." Marcus nodded slowly. He believed him. He wasn't sure entirely why. Maybe the directness. Maybe the the weeks of watching Richard be the same man in every situation, but he believed him.
"What's the number?" Marcus said. They talked for 40 minutes. The number was fair. The terms were fair. The structure was exactly what a real investment looked like, not a favor dressed up in business language.
Marcus asked questions, real ones, detailed ones, the kind that showed he'd thought about this possibility even when he'd been telling himself it wouldn't happen. Richard answered everyone. At the end, Marcus sat back. I need a week to look at it with independent eyes, he said. Not because I don't trust you, because I need to trust myself in this decision.
Of course, Richard said, and Richard, Marcus held his gaze. If this doesn't work out financially, if the market shifts and the investment doesn't perform, I need to know this doesn't change. Marcus Richard's voice was very steady. I do not buy people. I invest in businesses.
Those are different things, he paused. But I understand why you needed to say it. Okay, Marcus said. He stood. They shook hands again.