Resilience is Recession-Proof

September 2009

I hadn’t yet found a website developer.  However, I was excited about the meeting I had set up with Philippe Buhannic, the founder and CEO of TradingScreen.  Meanwhile, I had started making significant progress designing the website using a pen and paper.  Although I had created an in-depth business plan, it hadn’t occurred to me how much work it would be designing the actually site.

Sure, I had a general idea of how the website would function, but when you really sit down and think about all of the details, you realize how much thought actually goes into building a website.  I had to think about what each page of the site would look like, how they would function, and where different links would take people.  I also had to establish a set of rules for the site.

So, for about a week and a half, I brainstormed.  I thought of every miniscule detail of the website that I possibly could.  It was a lot of work, but I had a ton of fun doing it.  I always thought I would be a great inventor because of my creativity and curiosity.  However, business was a heck of a lot more appealing than engineering.  This was my opportunity to invent something, and I went all out, doodling and taking note after note in my little blue notebook.

After I had completed a lot of the work, however, I received an e-mail that would turn my world upside down.  As it turned out, a consulting firm that I had sent my resume to months earlier was impressed by my credentials and wanted to give me a phone interview.

The e-mail kind of caught me off guard, but a phone call couldn’t hurt. At this point, I hadn’t invested much money into the company, so I figured it wasn’t too late to explore other options.  We arranged for a phone interview, and I prepared thoroughly, like I would for any other.

It certainly paid off because my interview went great.  I had a nice rapport with the HR woman who interviewed me, and the company seemed like a great place to work.  I would be learning a lot, and travelling even more, which sounded really exciting.  I couldn’t believe it, but I was actually kind of excited about this prospect despite everything I was doing with the business.

While I waited to hear back from the consulting firm, I kept working, doing everything as I had originally planned.  I was especially excited about my meeting with Philippe.

It brought back a lot of great memories returning to TradingScreen, sitting in the reception area chairs that I had built as an intern.  However, it felt different being there.  I was no longer just an intern, but rather an entrepreneur, following my dreams.   After a bit of time, Philippe emerged from his office.

We greeted each other quickly, then headed for coffee.  As we descended to the first floor, I quickly realized that I was in the middle of my first elevator-pitch.  I wasn’t actually pitching the company to Philippe, but it was the first time I had to explain the business to anyone in such a short amount of time.

I finished my explanation just as we sat down to enjoy our coffee.  I asked Philippe a few questions I had prepared, mostly about his experiences starting a company.  He gave me valuable responses, but before I knew it, Philippe had grabbed my pen and pad and began scribbling furiously onto the yellow sheet of paper.

He went on and on, drawing a diagram of what the company would look like, outlining every person and expense that would be required until finally he put the pen down, looked at me and said, “So it will cost you approximately $2 million per year, and you will lose money for three years, so you are going to need $6 million dollars.”

He might have kept talking, but all I could think about was the enormous figure he had just thrown at me.  After all, $6 million is kind of hard to come by in today’s economy.  I left the meeting not knowing what to think.  Part of me actually started to believe that building this business might not have been possible.

I headed over to my friend’s apartment at that point, hoping to take my mind of the matter at hand for the time being.  However, just as I was about to enter his apartment, my phone began to vibrate.  It was a Chicago number, which meant that it was the consulting firm I had spoken to over the phone.

As it turned out, I had impressed them during the phone interview.  They wanted to fly me out to Chicago for an interview with a number of the firm’s employees in a week’s time.  I didn’t have $6 million dollars to invest, so the prospect of a real job started looking really good.  I took the interview, and I would soon be Chicago-bound.