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From the BookChapter 5The laughter of a perfectly executed practical joke turned to a thoughtful moment of silence, and then joyful, grateful and satisfied tears. For all of us, the dreams and genius of a quirky millwright and that of two young and inexperienced, tenaciously determined engineer-entrepreneurs had become reality. And none of us would ever be the same. Chapter 6The replacement value of the Ladysmith Mill-- plant, machinery, buildings was right about $50 million. Replacement values are important for insurance companies, but they don’t mean much in a sale like this. Fortunately for Wayne, there were no other serious offers on the table for the mill, and there might not ever be. The Pope and Talbot mill had been losing money for some time, Ladysmith is not the hub of any major industry, and the paper market wasn’t exactly roaring right now. That, in effect, could have made its value near zero. But of course they weren’t about to give it away. The general consensus around the table at the end of the meeting in Portland was that Pope and Talbot would let the mill go for somewhere around $5 million. Wayne had succeeded in lining up some investors, and had lent CityForest thirty grand of his own money. Still, he was a bit shy of five million. He needed about another $4.9 million to shore it up. Chapter 9It had been a long, and rough road for two years, and it wasn’t showing any signs of smoothing out. Wayne was not taking a salary from CityForest’s seed financing. Every penny of Carol’s paycheck was going to their mortgage, and their living expenses, anything left over went into the business. They were even paying people out of their own pockets, and credit card advances. She’d never complained, never cast a doubt on their plan. She was her husband’s partner in this venture. If she was worried, she never showed it. But they were no longer the same people who shook hands and said, let’s go for it. They were parents now. And the way they were going, there was no margin for error, accident, anything. Lord help them if something went wrong. Suddenly the concept of risk was very real. Now holding his baby, Wayne was very clear. He couldn’t go on like this. He had to know one way or another: is this going to happen? If not, he needed to get out. Now. Pay back his investors any way he could, get a job, do whatever he had to do. Driving home from the hospital alone that night, Wayne had flashes of his own Dad, and some of the ventures of his that didn’t work out. His mother making 2 dollars stretch for a week. Creditors' phone calls. Wayne wasn’t even sure they could afford to keep this baby in diapers! No. This was unacceptable. Failing at a start-up would be painful, failing as a father and provider was simply not an option. By the time he had turned onto his own street, he realized just how exhausted he really was. And, as always happens when we’re tired, his inner voice began laying out a convincing case that this was all for naught. Nothing was worth this. He was missing his life in this uphill climb, regardless of all the wonderful personal growth as an entrepreneur. This whole thing was putting way too much pressure on Carol, he didn’t even want her to have to work, and here she was going into Year Three of supporting them! All these people saying no, maybe he was just too Norwegian-stubborn to see that this was just impossible. And even Pope and Talbot. They weren’t idiots, they’d long since figured out where he was. They were just humoring him until someone else anybody with cash! came along, and they’d forget they’d ever even heard of a company called CityForest. Why would this big company even give a rip about some guy in the middle of...? Wayne hit the brakes as he pulled into the driveway. His headlights swept across the front porch, where four huge cardboard boxes blocked his front door. He dashed up the stairs, and tore open the envelope glued to the top of the largest box. The card read, "Welcome Hailey, and Congratulations Carol and Wayne!" Your Friends at Pope and Talbot. The four boxes were six months worth of diapers, one of P and T’s best selling consumer products. Yeah. He sat down on the porch, and cried. |
The Entrepreneur’s Way Rescuing The American DreamG. Web Ross and Howard A. Klausner Hardcover - 264 pages – July 4th 2009
This is a fascinating book- a candid glimpse into the soul and mind of a “reflective practitioner” of the art and craft of adding value and keeping values. Because it's about real life and risk, there's a surprise or two along the way and it's a good read. But you'll leave this biography with a better understanding of the spirit and calculus of capitalism and, I suspect, with a good feeling inside.
Dr. Walter B. Roettger, Lyon College President |
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