章節 10: Chapter 10: Face-to-Face
[QuickMoves Office, Republic Plaza]
Henry’s voice came over the intercom. “Hi, Jackie. The people from TV Cap are already in the lobby. I’ll be bringing them to the conference room. See you there in five minutes.”
“Yes, I’ll see you there, Henry. Thanks.”
They were fifteen minutes early, but Jackie didn’t mind.
She checked her makeup. She looked sharp, decked in an off-white silk shirt with the winged collar turned up. She matched it with a dark-hued virgin wool pencil skirt and an elegant pair of pointed-toe heels.
Then, within moments, she was walking into the conference room right behind her guests.
“Ah, here she is… Jackie, meet Marjorie and Robert.”
Henry stepped next to Jackie as he made the introductions.
“Marjorie is head of investments and a partner in TV Capital. She runs their Singapore office.”
“Good morning, Jackie. Sorry, I know we’re a bit early,” Marjorie said as they shook hands.
She was in an elegant business suit and had her hair pulled back sleekly in a low bun. Her light makeup brought out her exquisite features.
“Oh, don’t be. We rather expected you’d be early.”
Henry gestured toward Bob.
“And, this is Robert Tang. Senior partner.”
Jackie smiled charmingly. She found him rather appealing in an enigmatic sort of way.
*Hm, quite good-looking, in a rugged sort of way.*
Bob stepped over and shook Jackie’s hand firmly.
“Hello, Jackie. A pleasure to meet you.”
He had short hair with a slight fade. He looked young, like a freshman from an ivy league college, but his firm jaw and steady eyes revealed an innate self-confidence that only came with years of experience.
She smiled sweetly. “The pleasure is mine.”
The first thing that struck Jackie was how casually dressed he was.
He wore a pair of “7 FAM” jeans with a well-cut cotton shirt and matched them with a pair of fashionable wing-tipped leather shoes. He had a satchel slung over his shoulder, and all he carried in his hand was a writing pad.
He didn’t look like a techie and she wondered if he was familiar with technology at all. From the forced smile on Henry’s face, she knew he felt the same way.
Jackie stood poised before her visitors, and said, “Robert, Marjorie, thanks for coming in. Please have a seat. Can I get you both any drinks?”
“No thank you, I’m fine,” Marjorie replied and turned to her partner. “Bob?”
“No, no thanks,” he said.
“Well then, perhaps we can start with an introduction of our company, then we’ll walk you through the project?” Jackie said, then glanced at her senior manager.
“Over to you, Henry.”
Henry introduced the company and presented their project in his customary eloquent style, interspersed with quips and rhetorical questions to lead his audience to where he wanted them.
Marjorie sat leaning forward, her back straight, with elbows on the table, listening attentively. Bob was leaning back in his seat, arms folded, and keeping his eyes on the screen.
And after Henry ended his presentation, Marjorie raised an issue.
“You have a dip in contributions, though revenue has increased. Why is that so?”
“We’ve incurred quite a sum to launch our new product in the local consumer market, and then there’s system development cost for the Vietnam project,” he answered with no hesitation.
“It is to be expected, but we project to see returns on this new initiative within six months. The numbers are picking up as you can see,” Jackie pitched in, and emphasized, “Our primary concern right now is to prepare for the Vietnam project.”
Marjorie nodded as she glanced through her notes on the financials.
“Yes, you’re running two big projects concurrently. Cashflow is always a concern, and it can be a little tricky.”
Jackie forced a confident smile and held her tongue.
Marjorie continued, “For your local operations, I can see you made a killing by focusing on the non-traditional segments, but I suspect you’re reaching a saturation point. Perhaps, you could appraise me further on your plans here?”
“Sure, our push into the traditional consumer market is actually quite encouraging. We’re still the New Kids on the Block, but we’re making waves. We now have over 8,000 delivery riders and almost 2,000 new restaurant sign-ups… and growing. We haven’t done too badly, I’d say,” Jackie pointed out.
She waited for it to sink in before quickly pivoting back to her main topic. “This is why we are confident about embarking on the Vietnam project.”
“Yes, I can’t disagree with you there,” Marjorie responded with a smile, twirling her pen between her fingers. “Your delivery operation looks promising, I must say. You surely are giving your competitors a run for their money.”
The three members of the QuickMoves team beamed. Their presentation was going far better than they had hoped so far.
While Marjorie raised some of their concerns for the new venture, Bob remained silent the whole time. He was merely observing and taking down notes as the QuickMoves team responded.
“Can I use the board?” It was the first time Bob uttered a word during the entire presentation.
The QuickMoves team was quite startled. He had been so quiet the whole time, and no one expected him to use the whiteboard.
“Oh, yes, please.”
Jackie gestured to the board and watched him get out of his seat with feline grace -- like a big cat on the prowl. Despite his casual attire, he didn’t for one moment look out of place in the meeting room.
She observed him as he moved to the front of the room. There was something about this man, but she couldn’t put a finger on it.
*Well… he looks casual, but he's certainly not sloppy.*
Bob picked up a couple of colored markers and drew vertical bars on the board.
“These represent the verticals you intend to play in,” he explained, then pointed to each block and said, “Deliveries, rides, and payment services.”
Jackie glanced at Henry, and the straight-faced expression on his face said it all.
*Is he actually gonna talk about technology? That’s a surprise!*
Bob then drew a black horizontal bar across the three verticals, and said, “This represents where you will play.”
He then turned to face the room, looking at each of their faces before he continued.
“I have no concerns when it comes to delivery services. In fact, I’m sure you’ll have a significant impact on the market there,” he pointed out, then he paused briefly before he asked, “But, from a technology perspective, how prepared are you for these two other verticals here?”
“Er, we’re running beta testing at the moment, and integration is moving along well,” Daphne answered, looking at him meekly before turning to Jackie almost like she was seeking moral support.
“We have a team of twelve developers with the requisite skills in all layers of a webstack, and they’ve done a lot of work in end-to-end customer-facing portals,” Jackie chimed in.
Bob nodded in acknowledgement, then pointed to the third vertical and expanded on the diagram.
“In this vertical -- well, when you enter the e-wallet space, the game changes. You move from a four-corner to a six-corner model.”
He went on to explain the model at length. There was a lull in the room by the time he added, “Off the top of my head, I can think of at least another fifteen positions you’ll need to hire to get this off the ground.”
Jackie was slightly stunned, and her two key managers were equally lost for words as they diligently took notes on the writing pads in front of them.
She felt her heart racing nervously.
*Oh, shit! He immediately spotted a weakness in our operating plan!*
Her initial intuition about Bob wasn’t wrong, for this enigmatic man turned out to have a hidden forcefulness that could burst out at any time. He was like a tiger at rest, toying with his prey.
Bob attempted to lift their spirits when he sensed the drop in their shoulders.
“Look, I can see a lot of good work has been put into this -- don’t get me wrong. But whatever I have raised are things that have to be resolved.”
Marjorie had seen this coming. It was time for some positive intervention.
“Well, I suggest we discuss this after lunch. We can have separate discussions and drill in on the details,” she cut in.
And with her cue, Henry responded, “Yes, I’ve booked us for lunch.”
“Thank you, Henry. And I will continue discussions with you and Daphne after lunch. Shall we adjourn?” Marjorie said, her eyes on Jackie.
She had planned this with Henry before the meeting. It was so that Jackie would have a personal meeting with Bob to discuss high-level matters in her office.
Jackie kept her confident demeanor as she got up from her seat, but she found herself drawn to this man. At first glance, he seemed rather unassuming, but as it turned out, he was quite incisive in his thought process.
* * *
The atmosphere at lunch was as expected -- Jackie and her team were somewhat subdued. Bob carried on about the resources he had available that could fill the technology gap and thought it would be welcome news to their ears. But it had the opposite effect.
Jackie exchanged glances with Henry and did not say a word.
*He’s smooth! Self-assured, clear-minded, and he seems so unhurried. What’s his game?*
***
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