Chapter 9 · Vote for My Rival? Watch Me Revoke 32 Patents

Chapter 9

On the fifteenth day.It was StellarTech's first major client announced they were ending their partnership.Horizon Group. Annual contract value: four million dollars.Henry heard the news from an old colleague."Michael threw a cup in the conference room," Henry said."And then?" I asked."Then Emily went off on him for half an hour. Said he was incompetent, and that she must've been blind to vote for him back then," Henry said.Honestly, I didn't feel a thing."Do you have the contact info for Horizon Group's IT director?" I asked.Henry sent me a photo of a business card."David King. I've worked with him before," he said."Set up a meeting," I said.The next day at noon, I met David at a restaurant downstairs from Horizon Group.He was in his early forties, with a round face and a direct way of speaking."Mr. Carter, honestly, the moment you left StellarTech, I knew they wouldn't last," he said, taking a bite. "That security setup you built? Those guys couldn't even wrap their heads around it. In just two weeks, we've had over six hundred errors pop up.""I've started my own thing now," I said, handing him the proposal. "Enterprise-grade data security gateway, three times the protection, forty percent less on annual fees."David flipped through the proposal."Can you really pull this off? You've only got a handful of people, right?" he asked."I can handle the product myself. As for deployment and support, I've got a team," I said."How long until it's up and running?""Two weeks."He set the proposal down."Honestly, Mr. Carter, Michael from StellarTech called me himself yesterday, begging me to stay. He even offered me a twenty percent discount," he said."Did you take it?" I asked."Nope. I know you. I trust what you build. As for Michael," he shook his head, "he talks a big game, but he can't actually deliver.""So, when can we sign the contract?""Send me your proposal and I'll submit it this week. It'll go through the usual process, and we should have it finalized before next Monday.".I nodded.Our first deal.We just snatched a four-million-dollar client straight from StellarTech.

Chapter 9