As I got ready to go to Chicago for the New Year's Eve meeting, I assured my wife that the meeting would settle whether we actually have a deal to start the Company or whether we were going to move! After all, our daughter's Bat Mitzvah was scheduled for Spring and we had to decide the location...Boston, South Florida or Atlanta! And, of course, there was the matter of my position at Child World. Although the CEO was being quite accomodating, he was not going to wait forever for an answer as to whether I was staying or leaving. The schedule was a whirlwind...early flight to Chicago, meeting and fly back the same day as we had New Year's Eve plans with friends in Boston.
The meeting started out much like we had choreographed. Present were the principals of the targeted Venture Capital firms, Jory from Maurice Sporting Goods, his attorney and the proposed Executive team. I presented the overview of merchandising and marketing; the pricing strategy, advertising strategy, merchandise categories, store layout, gross margin strategy and merchandising and marketing staffing. The VP of Operations gave an overview of the store construction, and the CFO presented an overview of the initial financial projections. Then disaster struck...the proposed CEO, Bob Mead began to talk and he literally fumbled the ball. It became quite apparent that he had no real vision and was not the right person to lead the operation....actually, it was somewhat of an embarrassment to the entire effort. Venture Capital firms make investment decisions based as much on the leadership team as on the concept itself. It was obvious that this operation would never get funded with Bob as the CEO!
So, I flew back to Boston and assured my wife that we were staying put...that this deal was never going to happen. However, I soon received a call from the lead investor, Scott Meadow, who asked me to sit tight...the plan was to look for another CEO and then finalize the financing. I then proceeded to avoid my boss at Child World for the next few days...until he button-holed me on a flight from LA to Vegas, where we were attending a trade show. In his show of faith, he awarded me a 25% increase in salary, and a guarantee of my 50% bonus if I would drop the Sporting Goods project and commit all of my efforts to Child World. The provision was that I had to give him an answer by the end of January...when I returned from a Buying Trip to Hong Kong. I was on top of the world - Child World wanted me to stay and high powered Venture Capital firms wanted me to help start this new business. I immediately called Scott and told him that if the deal was not finalized by February 1st, then I was out of the deal...and off to Hong Kong I went!
Upon my return, it became apparent that nothing further had been done to secure the financing for the Sporting Goods project. I informed Scott that I was out of the deal and had to devote all of my focus on my current job. I accepted the generous offer of the CEO of Child World to stay in my present position and my wife proceeded to plan our daughter's Bat Mitzvah in Sharon, Massachusetts. As far as I was concerned, the Sporting Goods project would never get off the ground and I was much better off concentrating on the job at hand.
In the next post...the project is resurrected, meeting Jack and making the decision.
And The Journey continues.......
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