Champagne Brunch: The Stiletto Sisters Series by Ainsley Claire (easy readers .txt) 📗

I answer a few more questions from my friends. Then I look out over everyone in the group. “I really am thrilled to see so many of you here tonight. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. I’ll be sending each of you information on the test group here in San Francisco.” I can tell people are already talking about who they can invite. “I do need it to be on the down-low and not have a million users here locally before it’s perfected,” I warn, though I’m not sure they’re listening.

It’s after one in the morning by the time Peter drops me back at home. I agreed to meet with Mason tomorrow morning at his offices, and several things that people mentioned tonight need to be incorporated into my code. I hadn’t thought to include them since I’m not a dating app user. This will likely be a short night.

Back at home, as I consider where to add the code and what it should look like, I make a very strong pot of coffee. While it brews, I enjoy an espresso. After changing into a pair of yoga pants and a University of Texas sweatshirt, I push up my sleeves and get to work. My fingers fly across the keyboard. I know SHN will want to see my code and possibly a prototype.

I make progress for several hours, pumping caffeine into my system, and when I start to struggle around five thirty, I do fifty squats to get my heart rate up so I can push through. I’ll sleep this afternoon.

Once it’s officially morning, Peter returns to pick me up with enough time to get across town to SHN’s offices by ten.

When I arrive, Mason has everything all set up in the conference room. Before I know it, the firm’s six main partners—covering finance, software development, legal, public relations, operations, and account management—have joined me.

Everyone is so excited, and it’s almost like reliving last night. I turn my computer on and pass it to Cameron Newhouse. He’s the development guru. If he suggests you scrap it and start over, you do as he says, because he’s always right.

While Cameron goes through my code, Mason smiles at me. “Last night was a huge success, and you didn’t even expect it.”

I shrug. “I really didn’t. I just figured it would be a few friends, and I’d share my idea.”

“I think that speaks to your reputation in the industry.”

Dillon Healy, the CFO of SHN, tosses his pen on his iPad and looks at me. “Walk us through what you’re thinking regarding rolling this out.”

I share what I said last night about starting with a smaller control group, no more than two hundred people.

“You may be able to go larger,” Cameron says without looking up from my code. “You need at least a thousand for a good sampling.”

My stomach lurches a little. “Maybe, but I think just the feedback will be important for the launch, and it will get unruly if it grows too big. There’s only so much I can take on by myself.”

“Well, then let’s think about how you’re going to manage the increase in staffing needs,” suggests Emerson Healy, my good friend and the operations partner at SHN.

I chuckle and nod. “I was going to lean on our group of friends to start with, but they seem more interested in being test subjects than helpers.”

Emerson grins. “I think you’re right. Last night I heard Ryder and Claire talking. Everyone is quite confident that with your data-mining capabilities, you’re going to knock it out of the park.”

“That’s a big vote of confidence—but they’re my friends. It’ll be actual users and strangers who’ll be honest about the app. I’m worried it could become two hours of questionnaires, like eTogether, and I don’t want that.”

Cameron looks up from my code. “I think you might be able to adjust. Tumble is about how a date looks—it’s a hookup site. eTogether goes into personality traits for more long-term relationships. Distinguished goes for the successful. If you tweak your algo at these points, you should be able to make it smoother.”

“I like it,” I say, and Cameron’s fingers fly over my keyboard to add the code.

“How are you looking to launch?” Greer Giordano asks. She runs public relations for all SHN investments.

“I was thinking of getting a hotel ballroom—maybe the Fairmont? Or I guess we could look at the yacht club. I was going to send out an announcement that asked for RSVPs, inviting people to come and bring a single friend.”

“Oh, I like that,” Greer agrees. “I may have some venue ideas for a larger crowd, but I also think we should do this with a nice invitation.”

“How will you make money on this?” Dillon asks.

My head is beginning to spin a little. This is ballooning rapidly, but everyone seems so sure. “Well, I was thinking we’d offer it for free for the first three months, and after that, they have to pay for it.”

“Are you set on that?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I’m absolutely open to other options.”

“You could offer it for free with advertising, or so many matches for free,” Mason muses. “We’ve had a few apps like this. We can work this out. I think we can pursue three options when you roll this out to other cities. I guess the biggest question right now is, are you open to outside investment?”

I look around the table. I’ve worked with this team before. Even if I’m giving up some of my equity, that’s far outweighed by what they bring to the table. “I am open to SHN’s investment and all the help that comes with it,” I tell them. “It’s an app, so the development is there, and what I need is mostly