The Future Is Yours: A Novel
Page 10
Talk soon,
Ben Boyce
CEO of The Future
REPLY
I’m traveling extensively and not hearing pitches now. Good luck.
EMAIL
From: Ben Boyce
To: Emma Karas
Ms. Karas,
Hey, this is Ben Boyce! I met you briefly at the Planned Parenthood fundraiser last year, and got your contact info from Paolo Ventrini, who suggested I reach out. I’ve been a big fan of your work ever since seeing what you did with Kaleidoscope, and I’ve been hoping we could work together. I think the time has come.
My partner Adhvan Chaudry (PhD in CS, longtime Google vet) and I have been cooking up a next-level game-changing idea involving quantum computing for a completely novel application. We’re just starting our Series A pitches and would love to get in front of you. My asst is CC’ed to help coordinate.
Talk soon,
Ben Boyce
CEO of The Future
REPLY
Hi Ben,
Sorry but I’m not hearing Series A pitches at this time.
Best of luck,
Emma Karas
EMAIL
From: Ben Boyce
To: Sanjay Parnathy
Mr. Parnathy,
Hey, this is Ben Boyce! I met you briefly at the DNC fundraiser at the Hilton last year, and got your contact info from Cynthia Benn, who suggested I reach out. I’ve been a big fan of your work ever since seeing what you did with the Instagram sale, and I’ve been hoping we could work together. I think the time has come.
My partner Adhvan Chaudry (PhD in CS, longtime Google vet) and I have been cooking up a next-level game-changing idea involving quantum computing for a completely novel application. We’re just starting our Series A pitches and would love to get in front of you. My asst is CC’ed to help coordinate.
Talk soon,
Ben Boyce
CEO of The Future
REPLY
Just talked to Cynthia Benn. She doesn’t remember making this connection. Good luck with this.
EMAIL
From: Ben Boyce
To: Heidi Collette
Mr. Bellflower,
Hey, this is Ben Boyce! I met you briefly at the Cavalcade launch party last year, and got your contact info from Greg Simeon, who suggested I reach out. I’ve been a big fan of your work ever since seeing what you did with BoHo Shopper, and I’ve been hoping we could work together. I think the time has come.
My partner Adhvan Chaudry (PhD in CS, longtime Google vet) and I have been cooking up a next-level game-changing idea involving quantum computing for a completely novel application. We’re just starting our Series A pitches and would love to get in front of you. My asst is CC’ed to help coordinate.
Talk soon,
Ben Boyce
CEO of The Future
REPLY
Hi Ben. You seem to have left “Mr. Bellflower” in the salutation, while sending your thinly disguised form emails. I’m not sure how you got my personal email address, but please lose it.
EMAIL
From: Ben Boyce
To: Paolo Ventrini
Mr. Ventrini,
Hey, this is Ben Boyce! I met you briefly in the SalesForce box at the Warriors game last year, and got your contact info from Emma Karas, who suggested I reach out. I’ve been a big fan of your work ever since seeing what you did with the BluePill deal, and I’ve been hoping we could work together. I think the time has come.
My partner Adhvan Chaudry (PhD in CS, longtime Google vet) and I have been cooking up a next-level game-changing idea involving quantum computing for a completely novel application. We’re just starting our Series A pitches and would love to get in front of you. My asst is CC’ed to help coordinate.
Talk soon,
Ben Boyce
CEO of The Future
REPLY
Well hello there “Ben Boyce.”
I’m in a meeting with Emma right now, and we were both surprised to learn that we had recommended you to one another. You certainly did not invent this ploy, but yours is a superlatively ballsy version of it. For future reference, space out the timing of the emails, and be mindful of the connections in your network. And do a little SEO on yourself, the results are embarrassing.
—Paolo
REPLY
Oh and in case that wasn’t clear, “superlatively ballsy” is a strength in my book. Send me your term sheet and prospectus today, and I’ll meet you at Chromatic Coffee tomorrow, I have a window from 2:30-3.
—Paolo
ARTICLE—TECHCRUNCH—APRIL 1, 2021
GREYWALL SINKS $10M INTO “THE FUTURE”
Paolo Ventrini, managing partner at Greywall Capital, has made a seed-stage investment in “The Future LLC,” according to insider sources on Sand Hill Road. The fledgling Valley startup is new on the scene and fronted by co-founders Benjamin Boyce and Adhvan Chaudry.
This is the first public news of the company, which is positioning itself in the emerging quantum-computing space, combining unique hardware and software solutions. The field has long been recognized as a hypercompetitive one to break into, since Amazon, Facebook, and Google are clearly positioned to lead the way, with the infrastructure for large-scale research.
At this time, no information has been offered about the nature of the technology The Future will deliver, but it is described as a consumer-level application of quantum computing.
According to Ventrini, “These guys have come up with a truly game-changing technology. We’re keeping it under wraps for the time being, but I’m excited to debut to the public when the time is right.”
The founders are Stanford alums and college friends. Boyce is a serial entrepreneur, whose first two startups folded in 2018 and 2020. Chaudry is a CS PhD who worked briefly at Google before leaving to undertake his first standalone venture.
According to Boyce, “This is a true passion project, and we are confident that we will change the world within the next 12 months.” As of press time, the world remains relatively unchanged, but we will post updates as they emerge.
COMMENTS
TheCarltonDancer: I heard it’s 10M at a 100M valuation? Ventrini has lost it. Grasping at straws trying to stay relevant.
WallStBetsy: Is this an April Fool’s joke?
PiraTech: This is another blatant quantum cash grab. Smoke and mirrors. Greywall needs an engineer on the team to help evaluate or they’re gonna keep getting taken.
DefCon5000: Paolo is a solid dude. Often ahead of the curve. Worth watching.
TamaguchiKid: “Confident that we will change the world within the next 12 months.” Hmmmm. Spoken like a true snake-oil salesman. Start digging the grave now.
MAGAMan: Fuckin snowlfakes.
YourMomSays: Never heard of these guys. Expect that I never will again.
EMAIL—APRIL 5, 2021
From: Paolo Ventrini
To: Ben Boyce, Adhvan Chaudry
OK, boys, we’re in this boat together now.
First off: your tech is amazing. That said, question is, how to make money from it. That’s where I come in.
I reviewed your business plan (in a nutshell: sell time machines, right?) and I see a number of red flags. Regulation, for one. Infrastructure for another. To undertake extensive R&D, and scale to manufacturing and retail size, would be prohibitively expensive.
My proposal: Toss it. You want to get into the hardware business, really?
Early on, I like to ask: What is a startup? To me, it’s not about size or tech or the Valley. A startup is a capitalist science experiment. We are testing the viability o
f a new business model. So defining that model is crucial, and it is worth considering all the variables here.
Does this have to be consumer-facing at all? Couldn’t this essentially work as the basis for a hedge fund? We’ll be infallible for next-level returns. It’s the ultimate investment algorithm, and at a moment when investors are desperate for certainty, we can actually deliver it. Whatever social good you conceive can be better accomplished simply by making a ton of money and donating to worthy causes.
Think about it.
Paolo
REPLY
From: Adhvan Chaudry
To: Ben Boyce
B—
What the fuck did we just sign up for?
Seriously wondering if we should give the $ back.
Or better yet, just ignore him.
Day 1 and he’s trying to change the whole direction.
—A
REPLY
From: Ben Boyce
To: Adhvan Chaudry
Hey man, chill out. We’ve got a lot more time with this, a lot more sunk cost and heart and soul, we’re seeing it in ways he’s not yet. I totally hear you. I don’t want to compromise our vision.
That said, what if we open ourselves up to diversifying the possibilities for what the business could be? Every business book says that the critical moment is when you pivot. Is this our moment? Worth considering…
REPLY
From: Adhvan Chaudry
To: Ben Boyce
B—
No. It’s not the time to pivot.
It’s the time to hold fast.
Integrity.
Go back and read the letter you sent (will send) yourself.
—A
REPLY
From: Ben Boyce
To: Adhvan Chaudry
Word. Let me reply though. I can speak his language and manage this.
REPLY TO ORIGINAL EMAIL
From: Ben Boyce
To: Paolo Ventrini, Adhvan Chaudry
Hi Paolo,
So excited to be getting started!
We hear what you’re saying about the challenge of using this tech for a consumer hardware application. But that is the vision of the company—to sell a device that lets anyone see the future. We’re introducing a technology with the potential to fundamentally shift our relationship to the world…and it’s important to us to keep alive the possibility that anyone has access to it.
Moreover, we know it can be done! I know many recent unicorns are either software-based or infrastructure-based, but how to explain Tesla? What if Elon had just licensed his tech to other car manufacturers? We think we’re in that camp and we’ve got something that’s ironclad going to market.
REPLY
From: Paolo Ventrini
To: Ben Boyce, Adhvan Chaudry
Hey, boys, no offense, but you’re not Elon Musk. I’m sure you have dreams of being Jobs and Wozniak, but the built-in-my-garage billionaire myth is a generation out of date. You need to get your business working in the real world, and that’s where I can help.
REPLY
From: Adhvan Chaudry
To: Paolo Ventrini, Ben Boyce
P—
You’re right, we’re not Elon.
Elon is a preening, self-important prick masquerading as an engineer.
I’ve done the heavy lifting on this already.
We’ve got a working prototype.
We’re ready to go into deep R&D and roll out within the year.
To use your cynical analogy of a capitalist science experiment—
let’s not change our hypothesis before we at least get some data.
This business model is what we pitched you, and what you signed up for.
Get on board or get out of the way.
—A
REPLY
From: Ben Boyce
To: Adhvan Chaudry
Duuuuude come on. You literally just took a shit on ten MILLION dollars. I can’t just jump in and smooth this over. We have to be a united front. Send him an email and apologize, say you’re sorry and you overreacted, then I’ll follow up and we can get back on the same page, maybe see if we can arrange a face-to-face to discuss the direction in person.
REPLY
From: Adhvan Chaudry
To: Ben Boyce
B—
I will not apologize.
If we lose him, we lose him.
Nikolai didn’t die for us to start a hedge fund.
—A
REPLY (DRAFT)
From: Ben Boyce
To: Adhvan Chaudry
This is such bullshit why am I always cleaning up your messes. You fuck up and get caught, I save your ass. You lose your mind in grad school I’m there to get you back on your feet. And Nikolai didn’t die for anything other than being hooked on Oxy. I’m not gonna let you drag me down any
The previous draft email was left unfinished. During the time it was being composed, the following was sent:
REPLY
From: Paolo Ventrini
To: Adhvan Chaudry, Ben Boyce
Hey boys,
Well, I must say, I’ve never been addressed that way by anyone to whom I just wrote a giant check. And frankly, I admire your conviction. You will have to learn to compromise to go all the way, but I like that you are talking about VISION. That is the essence of any venture. And while I do not yet share your vision here, I respect the fact that you have one.
Where I net out is, I will support you in pursuing this direction for our little experiment, but with two caveats:
Number one: if you want to build a retail/hardware/sales-driven business (like Tesla) you will need a LOT more money. We’ll get into the details but I would guess that you need the full $100M of your initial valuation to get to the starting line. $100M pre-revenue would have been a lot to ask for even in the good old bubble days, and becomes a vastly more challenging proposition amid the current market conditions. Besides, if we do succeed, it will mean diluting all of our ownership stake.
Number two: you don’t close the door on my idea completely. We try your idea, with the understanding that you will try my idea if we’re not getting traction (meaning, not getting the investment capital we’ll need).
Buono?
REPLY
From: Adhvan Chaudry
To: Ben Boyce
B—
I can get behind this, as long as he’s actually supporting us getting the traction he’s talking about.
Not just stringing us on.
Seem good to you?
—A
REPLY
From: Ben Boyce
To: Paolo Ventrini, Adhvan Chaudry
Paolo,
Thanks for hearing our passion and totally understanding! We both think that this compromise sounds like a GREAT solution. We will totally continue to explore the possibility you discussed, but yeah, we’d love to have a fair crack at realizing the initial vision that we got excited about. You start getting us in some more VCs’ faces, we’ll showcase what the Prototype can do; we have no doubt that we’ll be drowning in money in no time.
Thanks!
Ben
REPLY
From: Paolo Ventrini
To: Ben Boyce, Adhvan Chaudry
Boys,
Excellent excellent excellent. I will absolutely open all the doors that I can. However, I want you to know, what you’re getting into is a different type of beast, and a different type of company. You want to launch in stores (maybe even your own stores?) within a year.
That’s doable but requires you
to build in a way that is public-facing. That means branding, marketing, communications, corporate infrastructure—and it’s not like people will just give you $100M and expect those things to get figured out.
In other words, it’s time to take this enterprise out of the garage.
Yours,
Paolo
BRANDING REPORT
GOOGLE DOC CREATED BY CARRIE CHAN—APRIL 12, 2021
Reviewed and commented on by Ben Boyce and Adhvan Chaudry
MISSION
THE FUTURE seeks to bring time-machine technology to the world by developing, marketing, and selling innovative consumer products to a global audience.
Brand Strategy
Our goal is to roll out a singular, unified messaging campaign that electrifies the imagination of the popular consciousness.