Tuesday, August 15, 2000

 

2:45 a.m. It's very often the case that I'm not able to write about everything that goes on around here -- that's no surprise. Sometimes it just about kills me, I tell you. (That I can't tell you.) Sometimes a little time will pass and then I can -- tell you. One of those times is now.

Let me tell you.

What an amazing, troubling, complicated weekend it has been. Here's the necessary background: Igor is the CEO of a startup company that has actively been seeking investment backing. That's not a verboten topic for these web pages so much as it's a pretty boring topic -- usually.

Most weeks are spent either dressing up and presenting or dressing down and doing the hard work. Lots of visits to the cleaners to drop off rumpled blue and white pinstripes; lots of late nights with programmers and pizza. The typical stuff. Exciting, and frustrating.

Late on Friday evening we received a mysterious email, followed by a phone call and sure, looking back on it -- sure. We can laugh now. We laughed at first. An African investor, lots of money, wants to invest. Right away. Did I say: lots of money? LOTS of money.

We laughed because of his funny name and the funny name of his country (Togo) and the funny photos of his countrymen that popped up when I did a quick web search. Fertility rites and voodoo ...

And then we went about our ordinary business and pretty much assumed it was a practical joke, except. The guys in the company who are the joking types were not in on it. The potential investor came in through a serious, highly restricted channel. We called the company lawyer and he made some calls and ...

I pretty much went to sleep not worrying about it.

By Saturday morning, things had gone into a slightly higher gear. Credentials were being checked, legalities examined, bank accounts opened, visas and passports pulled out. Little by little and one by one, each member of the company began to think this thing might be real. Including -- me.

For a part of Saturday, I began to slide into that unreal place that we all dream exists. That place where all our money troubles are over. All of them. Gifts can be bought, and then more gifts on top of that. That new Mac cube? Why not?! Solvency ... it could happen.

That special, special place ... where you suspend your normal judgment. So what if he couldn't get the money out of his country, as planned? We're more than happy to go and pick it up. The fact that an awful lot of money is leaving a poor, poor country? Our lawyer says it's legal. Highly unusual, but hardly unlawful.

Here's the worst thought you can have: "What do I know? I guess that's how things are done between rich people."

You know -- rich people. Those mysterious folk. Since I've never been one, how should I know if this is too fast, too much, too sudden? Maybe because I question things -- maybe that's why I haven't gotten rich, you know? Maybe I'm too: (squeamish, cynical, timid, logical). The rich, I've always been taught, are supposed to be different from you and me.

Ok -- that's dangerous thinking. It's also very wrong. You get rich -- if you're ever going to -- by doing exactly what you've always done, but maybe with a little extra work and a lot of extra luck thrown in. And speaking of luck, it was lucky for us that one of the guys in the company has an amazing ability to find relevant stuff on the web. He found the information I should have found, were I not so intent on trying to believe that this might be real.

It wasn't. It was, and is, a scam that's been going on for a long time now, but which has only recently spread to email and pre-IPO startups and yes, even to Togo. It's a scam that began in Nigeria and it's named the 419 after the bit of Nigerian civil law that's broken.

I guess we were an especially easy target because we are actively looking for investors. We've also been working long hours for little compensation, getting world weary, while all the while keeping a sort of stainless steel Humvee of confidence shined and ready for battle. We are ready.

So, this was a painful roller coaster ride. Really high peaks; really plunging valleys. Lucky for us, only our feelings got hurt and the only thing we lost was time.