NOVEL NEXT Chapter 44: The Sealing of the Deal
A few days later, Matthew sat in the office again, waiting for the final meeting that would solidify the deal. This time, it wasn't just Nathan Caldwell. Facebook's legal team, procurement officers, and a few other department heads were expected to join. The agenda was simple: finalize the terms of the subscription contract and address any remaining concerns from Facebook's end.
Saimon and Leo sat nearby, scrolling through their phones but clearly anxious.
"You think they'll try to renegotiate the price?" Leo asked, tapping the edge of his phone.
Matthew shook his head. "Nathan didn't sound like they had any issues with the pricing. But you never know with legal teams. They'll probably push for tighter conditions or want guarantees on service levels."
"Legal stuff. Great," Saimon muttered.
Matthew chuckled. "That's why I've been reading up on this for the last few days. I'm ready."
At 10:00 AM sharp, the meeting notification appeared on Matthew's laptop. He clicked to join and was immediately greeted by Nathan, whose calm, professional demeanor hadn't changed. However, there were several new faces in the virtual room this time.
"Good morning, Matthew," Nathan began. "Glad to have you back. I'd like to introduce some key people joining us today. First, this is Rebecca Owens, our General Counsel. She'll be walking through the legal aspects of the contract. Also joining us are Kevin Larson from procurement and Jenna Morris from IT operations."
Each person nodded or offered a quick "hello." Matthew returned the greetings, maintaining his composure.
"Good to meet you all," he said.
Rebecca Owens wasted no time, pulling up a shared document on the screen. It was a draft of the subscription agreement, filled with detailed clauses and terms.
"Alright, Matthew," she began. "We've gone over the subscription model you proposed. The monthly fee of $2.5 million is acceptable, provided we establish clear service-level agreements. We need assurances regarding system uptime, threat response times, and update frequency. Our team requires a minimum of 99.99% uptime and no more than a one-hour response time for critical incidents."
Matthew nodded. "That aligns with what I proposed. We've built the system architecture to support those levels. As for updates, our AI models will retrain continuously in real-time, and major security patches can be deployed within 24 hours of detecting new vulnerabilities."
Jenna Morris spoke next. "Regarding integration, we'll need your team to coordinate closely with ours during deployment. We'll be conducting our own performance and stress tests before moving forward with a full-scale rollout."
"Understood," Matthew said. "We've prepared a phased implementation plan that includes detailed performance benchmarks for each stage. I'll be available to collaborate with your engineers throughout the process."
Rebecca leaned in slightly, her expression serious. "One other thing, Matthew. Given the sensitivity of this software and its role in securing our infrastructure, we need a clause addressing exclusivity. Essentially, we want assurance that this system won't be licensed to our direct competitors without prior notice."
Matthew had anticipated this. He took a moment before replying. "I understand the concern, but I want to maintain flexibility to expand this technology across industries. I'm open to a temporary exclusivity period—perhaps one year—after which I can begin talks with other companies. During that period, you'll still receive priority access to updates and new features."
Nathan spoke up in support. "That seems reasonable to me. One year gives us time to fully integrate and evaluate the system's impact."
Rebecca nodded after a brief pause. "Alright, we can work with that. I'll revise the clause to reflect a one-year exclusivity agreement."
Kevin Larson from procurement finally chimed in. "Let's talk payment terms. 2.5 million dollars, we are fine with the cost, and we are prepared to pay you 15 million dollars that will cover the next six months. After that, the billing continues for 2.5 million per month."
"That's fine," Matthew replied without hesitation.
The meeting continued as they hammered out other details—liability clauses, data privacy protocols, and compliance with international cybersecurity regulations. Matthew answered each question with confidence, backed by the research and preparation he had done over the past week.
An hour later, Rebecca Owens closed the draft document with a satisfied look. "Alright, Matthew. I think we've covered everything. Our legal team will finalize the document and send it to you for review and signature. Once both parties sign, the contract will be in effect."
"Perfect," Matthew said. "Thank you, everyone, for your time and trust in this partnership. I'm excited to move forward."
Nathan smiled. "You earned it, Matthew. Let's make this a success."
With that, the meeting ended. Matthew leaned back, letting out a long exhale.
"Done," he said softly.
"Done? As in done-done?" Leo asked, his eyes widening.
Matthew nodded, a grin spreading across his face. "Yeah. We're officially sealing the deal. They'll send the final contract soon."
Saimon jumped to his feet. "Dude! We just closed a multi-million-dollar deal with Facebook! This is insane!"
Leo whooped in excitement. "Man, we're really doing this. Drinks tonight are on me this time!"
Matthew laughed. "You two guys are the luckiest investors of all time!"
As the initial excitement settled, reality hit Matthew like a wave. There was so much still to be done. Sure, they had just closed a multi-million-dollar deal with Facebook, but in the grand scheme of things, they were just three guys with no formal organization, no company name, and no established structure.
He rubbed his temples and sighed. "Alright, before we pop any champagne, we've got to get serious. We don't even have a company name yet, and this thing's about to go global."
Leo nodded, suddenly looking thoughtful. "True… we need to register the business, handle taxes, legal compliance, and probably hire people. We can't manage everything ourselves."
"Exactly," Matthew said. "I'll need to consult a lawyer and an accountant to sort out business registration and compliance. Plus, we'll need to open a business bank account for handling invoices and payments."
Saimon groaned. "Man, paperwork… I hate it already. But yeah, you're right. We can't mess this up. Facebook's going to want everything by the book."
Matthew leaned back. "It's overwhelming, but we'll tackle it step by step. First, let's come up with a name. We're officially in the big leagues now."
"What name do you have in mind?"