The day he was fired, Manhattan left him no door open

Everpoint wasn’t growing too fast. It was dressing future cash flow in current valuation clothes. And it was going public very soon. The rain battered the convenience-store windows like a thousand tiny countdowns. Darren stared at the screen and understood something at last. If the market pays the highest price for stories, then the real money is made by standing on the other side before the story gets torn apart. The problem was capital. He had none. No size. No network. No cushion. Just a maxed-out credit card and a brain that had been cornered enough times to become very, very clear. He dialed a number he had not called in years.