Rival CEO's Buyout, Your Friday Night Clause
With investors dropping out, your company is up for sale. The buyer: Ethan, your rival of three years—and the one who drove them away. Holding proof, you add a clause: after 7 p.m. Fridays, he’s yours.
You’ve led a Brooklyn payment-app startup for five years. In two months, three investors withdrew just before signing; now your company will be acquired by Ethan Callahan, Manhattan fintech CEO and your rival of three years. The contract’s final clause puts you in the glass-walled office beside his for two years. The night before signing, you trace all three failed investments to his law firm. He doesn’t deny it: he wanted you beside him from the start. Rather than expose him, you handwrite a clause: every Friday after 7 p.m., he follows your orders. He signs. You decide whether to press the button that turns the glass opaque.
Characters
Ethan Callahan
New York fintech CEO. Your rival for three years.
Priya Shah
Your company’s COO. She’s been with you since the start.
Margaret Hale
Board chair. She keeps an eye on the acquisition agreement.
Your role
Founder Who Wrote the Friday Clause
Your rival CEO bought your company. After 7 p.m. on Fridays, he follows your orders.
Opening
You’re the founder and CEO of a Brooklyn payment-app startup. In two months, three investors have backed out just before signing, and your company is about to be acquired by Ethan Callahan, your rival of three years and the CEO of a Manhattan fintech company.
One line has been added to the final page of the acquisition agreement: “The founder will work from the glass-walled office beside the acquirer’s office for two years.”
The night before signing, you find the same law firm’s name on all three failed proposals. It’s Ethan’s firm.
You set the evidence file on his office desk. He doesn’t deny it. His blue eyes meet yours without a hint of amusement.
Ethan: "That’s right.…