“Call me Geoff. Who’s Marilyn?”
“I’m Carl. Marilyn is my wife, and she is already convinced I’m not ready to play with the other children yet. If John tattles on me, I’m a dead man.” Jake came over to my side as the others filed out, and I introduced him. “This is Jake Eisenstein, Jr., our Vice President of Operations. I’m sure you’ll want to talk to him about your story. He actually makes things work around here.”
“I’m sure I’ll be talking to him, but maybe later,” he answered smoothly. He wasn’t being palmed off, not yet, anyway.
“And on that cue, I’m going to go and earn my living. Nice meeting you, Mr. Colvin.” Jake shook hands and departed, leaving me in my office with the reporter.
I ushered the writer over to the corner of my office, where I had a sofa and a few armchairs set up around a coffee table. When we got our new offices I made sure we had someplace to work (the conference table) and chat, besides just my desk. I could meet people comfortably as needed. I knew enough about Colvin to know he was a very sharp guy, and I didn’t need to be antagonistic.
“How was your trip? You managed to find us, I see,” I started.
“Yes, eventually. I was told that your company was in Baltimore, but it’s not, is it?” he said.
“Not precisely. We’re in Baltimore County, not the City of Baltimore. We’re probably forty minutes away from the downtown area.”
“So, what made you start a company out here?”
“Very simple. It’s where we all live. My entire team is from the northern Baltimore suburbs, including me. I live even further away from the city, so we put the office here as a compromise.”
“Baltimore is not what comes to mind when somebody mentions venture capital,” he replied.
I shrugged. “Money is fluid, as are ideas. A hundred years ago you might have been right. Now, the world gets smaller by the day. Communication gets easier and cheaper. How will we be communicating a hundred years from now? We could be anywhere on the planet and communicating instantly without even thinking of distance.”
“So you think we’ll all be separated in the future, spread out over the planet?”
I shook my head. “Hardly. For one thing, the long term historical trend is for increasing urbanization. By sometime in the early 21st century the majority of humans on this planet will be living in metropolitan areas. We aren’t separating, but congregating. Second, there will always be a need to sit down with others over a cup of coffee at a diner and shoot the breeze and toss ideas around. In that regard, we are at a disadvantage here, but it’s a very nice place to live.”
Colvin was a smart, well-read, and articulate talker, not terribly surprising for a top notch writer. We spent several minutes discussing future trends, and then I asked, “So, Geoff, what brings you to Hereford?”
“Well, you and the Buckman Group. I started writing an article on the face of venture capital and private investing in high tech areas, and for the last few years, you and your company have been popping up. I’m here to find out why,” he answered.
“Well, we’ll be happy to talk to you, but you understand that we can’t discuss any current or upcoming deals. We’ve signed confidentiality agreements, that sort of thing. Otherwise, I’ll introduce you to the people who really make things happen around here.”
“My understanding is that you’re the one who makes things happen. It’s your name on the door, after all.”
Great! I just waved this off and smiled. “No one man can do all that you think I can. I have several partners, and this is a team business.” I stood up and said, “Let me show you around.”
Colvin got up and I led him out of my office and down the hallway. I pointed at John’s closed door, and said, “You’ve already met John. He’s our chairman of the board, and is one of the designated grownups.”
“You have more than one?”
“Number two is Jake Eisenstein. He’s our Treasurer.” Jake’s office door was open and directly across from John’s. When we looked in, he was looking at us and scratching his head, but he was scratching it with a middle finger. “Jake’s not only old, he’s grumpy, too!” I continued down the hall and stopped at Missy’s door. It was open, but I knocked on the doorframe anyway.
“Hello?” she said, looking up from her computer screen.
I stepped inside, bringing Colvin with me. “Melissa, I’d like you to meet Geoff Colvin, from Fortune. Geoff, this is Melissa Talmadge, our Vice President of Investments. Melissa deals with a lot of the stuff involving Wall Street.”
Missy rose up and came around her desk. “Hello. Welcome. I think I talked to either you or your editor once or twice.”
“Both, actually. First me, then him.”
“Well, you obviously made it. You find us okay?”
He nodded. “Yes, but I didn’t know you were actually so far from Baltimore.”
I commented, “He got the county mixed up with the city.”
Missy smiled and gave a small shrug. “They’re not precisely the same thing. You drive down?”
“I flew, actually, but I wonder if that was such a good idea. We must be an hour from the airport.”
She nodded. “If I need to go to New York, I usually take the Metroliner from Penn Station, and then take a cab or limo in Manhattan. You don’t have to come in from JFK that way.” I nodded in agreement with that. In another life, I had frequently taken the trains from Albany to New York, and then from New York to Baltimore. I thought it beat the bus or flying all to hell.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” replied Colvin. “What made you guys decide to operate way out here? I’d think downtown Baltimore would be the business district.”
“Yes, to a certain extent it is, although a lot of stuff has moved out of the city. It’s just that, well, we’re all from the Towson and Timonium area, and we didn’t want to work in the city. When we set up things, Carl was building his house out in the sticks, so we compromised and came here. Office rents are a lot lower, too.” She looked at me, and asked, “Have you introduced him to everyone?”
“Yes, though Jake Senior was just in passing.”
“Why don’t we all get together over lunch? We can run down to the Wagon Wheel,” she said.
I glanced at Colvin, who nodded. “Fine by me. Let the others know. I don’t think anybody has anything else planned today.”
She shook her head. “Nothing much this week, but next week is jammed, remember. I have to spend a few days in the city, and you and Jake Junior are flying out to the west coast.”
“Dig us up at lunchtime, and we can go over.” I led Colvin back to my office and we sat down. “Okay, shoot!” I said, starting the interview.
Until lunch, Colvin asked me a variety of questions about the three deals we had done with the three tech firms. He also wanted to know why I was going to the west coast. That question I deflected, since it was to meet with a few outfits we were not public with yet. He took that rejection with good grace.
A little after noon, Melissa stuck her head in the door and announced they were heading over to the nearby restaurant for lunch, so I stood and we followed. I drove Geoff over with me, and they followed in Melissa’s mom bomb minivan. The Wagon Wheel is actually over towards Parkton, but is a decent local restaurant. Lots of comfort food, and the pies are first rate.
Over lunch we were all quizzed about how we had all first gotten together and what our backgrounds and histories were. Then, after lunch, I dumped him on John, and let him make the rounds with everybody. The next day was more of the same, only a photographer showed up, and took individual photos of us, as well as a group portrait or two. The only disquieting note came on Wednesday afternoon, when Colvin asked if he could meet Marilyn. I hesitated at that, and he pushed a bit. “You know, meet the wife and your children, get a little background, that sort of thing.”