Chapter 51: Expansion

Kim and I sat at small conference table in the office of Howard Snow, the founder, CEO, and majority shareholder of Snow Networks in Austin, Texas. I was wishing I had gotten an MBA and taken a dozen courses in negotiating, as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Kim Stanley, however, was making up for my deficiencies by saying what to me seemed to be the right things. “Howard, you know this market place is becoming more competitive. Only the larger firms can mount the kinds of efforts that result in profitable business. You and Cyber Solutions need to merge to create that critical mass, at least on a coastal scale.

“I won’t tell you who, but we are looking for some firms further west to add to this amalgamation. We want to be a national firm, operating so that every resource in our company is available coast to coast.”

I finally had something to say, I almost leapt out of my chair. “Just last week, we lost a multi-million-dollar contract to a national firm because we couldn’t offer our services seamlessly across the country. I know we could have done the work, but we just don’t have the presence. You would help give us that presence.”

Snow said, “And what do I get out of the deal? Just money?”

Kim said politely, “What else would you want out of a deal? Please put your cards on the table so we can start negotiating.”

Snow stood and walked to the windows that looked out at a green park and other office buildings. He pondered for a bit. I wanted to say something, but Kim moved her hand so that I knew to keep quiet. I did watch the man we’d come a thousand miles to see.

Snow turned, “I think I’m a pretty good manager and judge of people. I’m also not sure I’m ready to retire, although I’m getting near that age when I should be restless. If I wanted a post in the merged business, what would you let me do?”

Kim gestured for me to speak. We’d at least had this discussion while waiting for the plane in Sarasota. I said, “How about Executive Vice President of Western Operations.” Kim had schooled me that once I’d put forth an offer, to, as she put it, ‘shut the fuck up’. I locked my lips together rather than try to talk him into it.

“What would that mean?”

I responded, “You’d be merging what we hope are three businesses in the western region, and blending them with the three we have in the east. The job requires us to blend technologies, systems, software, and with more difficulty people and skills, and our various cultures, into a coherent whole. I’ll be working the same issue across the country.”

Snow gestured at Kim, “What’s your role?”

Kim slapped her checkbook down on the table and grinned at him. “I have the money to help make it happen. In return, I get a healthy percentage when we take the whole shebang public in about a year or two. Our roles and jobs needn’t change then, we’ll all be richer, at least on paper.”

Snow said, “I want to be sure all my senior people are retained and get a piece of the action in the IPO.”

“That’d be up to you. You’d remain their line manager. We are not intending to sweep people away as some mergers do. As far as I can see, we need all the talent we can muster to face the growing competition.”

“I’ll want shares in the resultant organization.”

Kim spoke, “I can ensure that you get some, but since we’re still growing and hence diluting what we have, it’s hard to say what the worth of those will be. As of today, we think Snow Networks is worth $14 million. We propose to pay you $10 million in cash, and give you and your senior staff $4 million in stock in the merged company. That’s about a ten percent share currently. You’d have a seat on the board, of course. You can tell us how to distribute some of that to your managers. That pile of paper spells out the whole deal including what you just asked for.”

Snow walked back to the window. He took a quarter from his pocket and then flipped it in the air. He let it drop on the wall-to-wall carpeting in the room. He glanced down, and then smiled. “I guess you have yourself a deal. Snow Networks is yours.”

Kim slid the papers across the table, and then took her business checkbook. She wrote a check as though she were paying for groceries and put that atop the other papers. The check was for $10 million. This was all pending due diligence, of course. Kim’s staff was already working on that.

A week later, Kim, Snow, and I were at Sierra Core Systems in Stanford, California. Down the street lay the campus of Stanford University, a testament to a railroad robber baron of the 1800’s who had hopes for a better future. Leland Stanford later went on to serve years as a U.S. Senator.

Roger Morse, Sierra’s CEO and owner, was signing papers on the other side of the table. Beside him was a check that Kim had written for $24 million. Howard Snow also sat beside us. He’d turned out to be instrumental in getting SCS to sell out to us. There were two lawyers in the room, too; but we’d told both of them to keep their mouths shut unless they saw something egregiously wrong or illegal.

The next day, the three of us had a meeting with the ING – the Information Networking Group of Denver. ING turned out to be in Aurora, Colorado. They’d just been added to the fold of Cyber Solutions for another $10 million from Kim’s generous wallet. My company was getting larger and larger every day. We also won a national contract for Network Services.

A few days later, I went home from Colorado by way of Boston. I bought another networking company there that had been named Northeast Information Technology Solutions or NITES. That one only cost Kim $8 million.

Now, I had to start integrating six separate companies.

I declared Atlanta to be the headquarters, as much as I wanted to have it be in Sarasota. Flights were easier and more frequent to and fro, plus they had the space for some expansion before we needed to worry about space. Everyone knew my heart was in Sarasota, so humored me working from there and being on Zoom or other video calls from there.

Much as I liked living with Jean, she had a small apartment and I liked lots of space. She found me three apartments based on my specs, and after seeing the three with her, we picked the one she thought was the best. It wasn’t too far from work, plus it had spare bedrooms so I could also have guests of all kinds stay over.

Jean furnished the place beyond the few pieces of furniture that came with the condominium. The next thing she did was move some of her things into part of the master bedroom. I guess my ‘Atlanta Wife’ had staked her claim.

Our first night in the condo, Jean, Meg, and I had Bob and Connie Mason over. We had cocktails, dinner on our new cookware and IKEA plates, and then swapped partners for two hours. I could see the intimacy that Jean had with the couple. Meg was more devoted to me. Jean had been with Connie and Bob several times while I’d been in Sarasota or traveling around the country with Kim buying companies.

A week later, I flew into Atlanta from Austin just in time for dinner. I was accumulating frequent flyer miles at an alarming rate. I already had enough for ten free round-trip flights across the country, but getting on a plane to go someplace had ceased to be a desirable thing. Jean and I met for dinner after I called her from the airport.

Over dinner, Jean told me that she had two surprises for me that evening. We were getting close to the Christmas holiday, so I wondered what it was. I knew Jean had decorated the apartment so I could get in the Christmas spirit. I also knew that she liked to get together with Bob and Connie, so I thought there’d be sex involved in some way.

Surprise number one greeted me just inside the door to my condo. Jean had given Meg her key. The two women obviously knew each other since there were only eighty employees in the Atlanta office at that point. That number was supposed to start growing very shortly according to plan.

Meg plastered her small body against mine and we kissed like long-lost lovers, which to some degree we were. She was already in what looked like pajamas. From that observation, I figured she was staying over and I guessed that sex would be involved.

Jean looked pleased with her arrangement. I pulled her into the hug with us. Jean is quite a bit taller and that put her breasts easily within reach of Meg’s mouth. Meg pushed up Jean’s top and bra, and latched on with her lips. Jean shuddered and then the pair kissed.

Jean said, “We’ve become lovers.”

I smiled, “Good. There’s not enough of that going around.”

Beside me, Jean had started to remove her clothes. I was all for that, so I moved in kind. Meg just slid the satin PJs over her head and down her legs, and she was bare. Well, she wasn’t ‘bare’ – she had that patch of pubic hair on her mons that I loved to play with after we’d fucked.

The three of us were quickly on the living room sofa making out with each other. Meg was in my lap and that made it easier for the three of us to kiss or fondle each other.

My hardening cock was reaching full erection between Meg’s legs as she leaned back against me. Jean started to blow me, but then she’d shift her focus slightly, and be eating out Meg. I had Meg’s jugs in my two hands and was working her nipples to a point where she told me she’d likely orgasm. Ultimately, she did as Jean jammed her tongue and fingers into the smaller woman’s hot twat. My hard shaft slid against Jean’s cheek as she did Meg.