"Kim Stanley Robinson - Forty Signs of Rain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Kim Stanley)

So naturally their help was much in demand from small biotech companies. There were something like
three hundred biotechs in the San Diego area alone, and many of them were hanging on by the skin of
their teeth, hoping for that first successful cash cow to keep them going or get them bought. Venture
capitalists would therefore get to pick and choose what they wanted to invest in; and many of them were
pursuing particular interests, or even passions. Naturally in these areas they were very well-informed,
expert in combining scientific and financial analysis into what they called тАЬdoing due diligence.тАЭ They
spoke of being тАЬvalue-added investors,тАЭ of bringing much more than money to the tableтАФexpertise,
networking, advice.

This guy Bannet looked to Leo to be one of the passionate ones. He was friendly, but intent. A man at
work. There was very little chance Derek was going to be able to impress him with smoke and mirrors.

тАЬThanks for seeing us,тАЭ Derek said.

Bannet waved a hand. тАЬAlways interested to talk to you guys. IтАЩve been reading some of your papers,
and I went to that symposium in L.A. last year. YouтАЩre doing some great stuff.тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs true, and now weтАЩre on to something really good, with real potential to revolutionize genetic
engineering by getting tailored DNA into people who need it. It could be a method useful to a whole
bunch of different therapies, which is one of the reasons weтАЩre so excited about itтАФand trying to ramp up
our efforts to speed the process along. So I remembered how much you helped us during the start-up,
and how well thatтАЩs paid off for you, so I thought IтАЩd bring by the current situation and see if you would
be interested in doing a PIPE with us.тАЭ

This sounded weird to Leo, like Indians offering a peace pipe, or college students passing around a
bong, but Bannet didnтАЩt blink; a PIPE was one of their mechanisms for investment, as Leo quickly
learned. тАЬPrivate Investment in Public Equity.тАЭ And for once it was a pretty good acronym, because it
meant creating a pipeline for money to run directly from their cash-flush fund to DerekтАЩs penniless
company.

But Bannet was a veteran of all this, alert to all the little strategic opacities that were built into DerekтАЩs
typical talk to stockholders or potential investors. Something like sixty percent of biotech start-ups failed,
so the danger of losing some or all of an investment to bankruptcy was very real. No way Derek could
finesse him. They would have to come clean and hope he liked what he saw.

Leo gazed out the window at the foggy Pacific, listening to Derek go on. Unbroken waves wrapped
around La Jolla Point and pulsed into the cove. The huge apartment block at the end of La Jolla Point
blocked his view west, reminding him that big money could accomplish some unlikely things.
 Derek finished leading Bannet through a series of financial spreadsheets on his laptop, unable to disguise
their tale of woe. Bad profit and loss; layoffs; sale of some subsidiary contracts, even some patents, their
crown jewels; empty coffers.

тАЬWeтАЩve had to focus on the things that we think are really the most important,тАЭ Derek admitted. тАЬItтАЩs
made us more efficient, thatтАЩs for sure. But it means there really isnтАЩt any fat anywhere, no resources we
can put to the task, even though itтАЩs got such incredible potential. So, it seemed like it was time to ask for
some outside funding help, with the idea that the financing now would be so crucial that the returns to the
investor could and should be really significant.тАЭ

тАЬUh-huh,тАЭ Bannet said, though it wasnтАЩt clear what he was agreeing with. He made thoughtful clucking