Free Fishbowl by Matthew Glass Page A

finally set off the explosion in his head that had made Fishbowll work. And he needed Kevin, who was as much of a wheelspinner as he was. He wanted them to be in, in a way that was strong and permanent. And if there wasever going to be any money in Fishbowll, he wanted them to have part of it too.
    He had no problem with Kevin having asked before he had had the chance to make the offer. After the work he had put in, Kevin had every right.
    â€˜Ben,’ he said, ‘we wouldn’t be here without the things you said to me. Kevin, you’re a Stakhanovite.’
    â€˜What’s that?’
    â€˜It’s the old Soviet term for a hero worker, the guys who did more than anyone thought possible. We would have crashed and burned in week two without you. I want you to have fifteen per cent of the company each. But I’m going to need you to put in some money. We need more server space. I’m putting in everything I’ve got, every last cent I’ve saved. Can you find something? I don’t know, talk to your families. Say, fifty thousand each.’
    â€˜How long will that take us through to?’ asked Kevin.
    Andrei glanced at the napkin with the numbers he had written. ‘September? I figure we’re also going to have to pay someone to help with the coding, and that should cover that as well.’
    Kevin considered it. Obviously, Andrei wasn’t going to divide the company equally, with each of them getting 33 per cent. Andrei had had the idea, he had made it happen, he had put in the initial funds for server space. He deserved to have more. Kevin hadn’t settled on a share for himself that he thought would be fair. Twenty would have been nice. Ten would have been low.
    Fifteen per cent of the company for $50,000 valued the business at somewhat over $300,000. Kevin believed in Fishbowll and its potential – $300,000 was nothing. If they did things right, he calculated that it would be worth a whole lot more than that.
    â€˜I’m in,’ he said.
    â€˜Can you get fifty thousand?’
    â€˜I’ll tell my parents any lie I have to. I’ll tell them I got a girl pregnant.’
    â€˜Tell them something they’ll believe,’ said Ben.
    â€˜Funny. Very funny.’
    â€˜Ben?’ said Andrei.
    â€˜I’m not sure. My folks don’t have that much spare cash. Stanford’s stretching them to the limit.’
    â€˜Call them. I want you in. You guys should get your own attorneys. I don’t want you to feel there’s any problem in the future. I’ve got my guy to draft an agreement, but we should make sure everyone is happy that this is absolutely fair.’
    â€˜I’m OK,’ said Kevin. ‘I’ll talk to your guy.’
    â€˜I’m OK with that,’ said Ben.
    Andrei nodded. That was what he wanted to hear. He had felt he had to recommend that the others get their own lawyers, but if they had taken him up on the suggestion, he didn’t know if he would have gone ahead with the deal. If they didn’t have trust amongst the three of them at this stage, he didn’t think it would work.
    Andrei put out his hand. ‘Welcome to Fishbowll, gentlemen!’
    â€˜Dude, we are going to make something awesome,’ said Kevin.
    Andrei nodded. ‘I hope so.’
    Ben and Kevin talked to their parents. Ben was able to raise only $30,000 and received 9 per cent of the company. Kevin produced $50,000 and received 15 per cent. The legal papers were signed a week later. Andrei Koss, Kevin James Embley and Benjamin Shapiro Marks became the founding owners of Fishbowll Inc., incorporated in Delaware.
    Two weeks after the papers were signed and the money was handed over, Fishbowll hit a wall.

8
    OUTSIDE THE SUITE in Robinson House, no one knew what was happening. Users only ever saw nine names at a time, out of lists that usually reached into the thousands, and often many thousands. So if those lists were reduced by 40