Chapter 4
Chapter 4 Gentech Innovations
The office of GenTech Innovations sat on the 32nd floor of a high-rise.
When I walked in, the receptionist had no idea who I was.
"Who are you here to see?" she asked, looking up.
"I'm the new CEO," I said.
The receptionist's eyes went wide.
"You're the new CEO?" she said, completely stunned.
The elevator doors slid open, and a man in an immaculate suit stepped out.
It was Frank Warren, the general manager of GenTech Innovations.
He looked to be in his early forties, hair slicked back perfectly, and his smile was a little calculating.
"So you're the new CEO from headquarters?" he asked.
"Grace Sutton," I said.
"Frank Warren," he replied, reaching out. "I've been here eight years. If you need anything, just say the word."
I shook his hand briefly and let go.
"I want last year's and this year's financial reports, all current project files, and the org chart on my desk in ten minutes," I ordered.
His smile froze for a moment.
"Ten minutes? Ms. Sutton, that's a lot of paperwork," he protested.
"You've got nine minutes," I cut him off.
I walked into the CEO's office.
The desk had a film of dust on it.
The previous CEO had quit three months ago, and the office had been empty ever since.
Sure enough, Frank brought the documents over in ten minutes, and he looked sour about it.
I spent two hours going through all the reports.
The reasons for the losses were clear. The core tech team had walked, two major clients had been poached by competitors, and operating costs had stayed high.
But the company had one advantage that nobody outside knew about.
They owned a biometric patent that R&D had built three years ago and never commercialized.
I called the head of R&D, Bryce Wade.
"Bryce, meeting at two," I said.
"Ms. Sutton, I've got a conflict," he started.
"Two o'clock. That's final," I cut him off.
At two o'clock, eight people were in the conference room.
Three came from R&D, two from marketing, and one from finance, along with Frank and his deputy, Leo Bennett.
I stood in front of the whiteboard.
"You all know GenTech's problems better than I do. We lost 6.7 million dollars, our core clients left, and the team is barely holding together," I said.
Leo pushed up his glasses.
"Ms. Sutton, these problems have been here a long time. The last CEO spent six months on them and quit when he couldn't fix anything," he said.
"I'm not the last CEO," I replied.
"So, what's your plan?" he asked.
I said, "The biometric patent. BioKey X1."
Everyone turned toward Bryce.
Bryce scratched his head.
"Ms. Sutton, the patent is real, but turning it into a product takes serious money, and the budget never got approved," he said.
"It's approved now," I said.
"How much?" he asked.
"A 10 million dollar R&D budget, and I want it ready for launch in two months."
Frank sat in the corner, looking more and more grim.
"Ms. Sutton, 10 million? We only have 1.7 million in working capital," he said, incredulous.
"The funding isn't your concern. Just focus on working with R&D and coming up with a solid commercialization plan for BioKey X1," I replied.
He paused for a few seconds.
"All right," he said.
After the meeting, Frank stayed behind.
"Ms. Sutton, I'll be blunt. Before you came, I ran this place. Now that you're in charge, we should be clear about how the two of us work together," he said.
"Frank, I respect your eight years here. But starting today, every expense over 167 thousand dollars comes to me for approval," I said.
"That isn't how it's done here," he protested.
"It is now," I cut him off.
He stood there, staring at me for a few seconds, then turned and walked out.
I knew he wasn't happy about it.
It didn't matter.
The results would speak for themselves.
At seven that evening, Mark Lanier arrived.
He handed me a folder.
"Ms. Sutton, I have what you asked for. Olivia does own White & Co. Trading, and their annual revenue really is 67 million dollars. But there's a catch."
"But what?" I asked.
"Thirty percent of White & Co. Trading's business comes from Langley Holdings contracts. If Langley pulls those orders, their revenue gets cut in half," he explained.
"Interesting."
"There's more. Olivia's father, Robert White, nearly went bankrupt three years ago after he mismanaged the business, and David's father, Edward Langley, bailed him out. Olivia started showing up at Langley Holdings constantly after that," he added.
"So it isn't love. It's a transaction," I said.
"That's one way to look at it," he replied.
I closed the file.
"I need you to check one more thing for me," I said.
"Sure, what is it?" he replied.
"Take a look at Langley Holdings' financials for this year, especially the overseas business section. See if anything looks off," I said.
"You think—" he started.
"Just check first," I cut him off.