They're Not Like Us

Chapter 6 Richard at the Office

At the plush offices of Equity Capital Investment Group, the Founder and Managing Partner is seated at his desk. A voice comes over the intercom, "Mr. Landers your two o'clock appointment is on his way from reception."

"Good, bring him right in, when he gets here."

A few minutes later, his office door opens. The executive assistant leads in a very professional looking well-dressed man about Richard's age.

Before he can be introduced, the man extends his hand and says, "Mr. Landers, I'm Kenneth Walker. I feel like I already know you, Jill Kavanagh has mentioned your name many times when she is talking about Camelot's superstars."

Richard says, "Thank you and I feel the same way. Jill is a big fan of yours and she does not mind letting it be known, and please call me Richard."

"I want you to call me Kenneth, and I'm glad that we can be informal because I am here looking for advice. Before I go into details, I think I should be honest with you and tell you, I once had you checked out. My reason was perhaps a bit intrusive, and surely forward, but I wanted to know what kind of people we had moving into Camelot Estates. The first thing that I learned is that you are a good man and a prime example of what we are looking for behind our gate. The other thing that jumped out at me is that you are considered one of the best investment bankers in the Southwest."

Richard said, thank you for saying that. Our company is new, but all of us around here are experienced and we work at always doing whatever has to be done to succeed."

Kenneth leaned back before he spoke, then he said, "Richard, at this point I am just exploring, looking for advice, and evaluating myself and my company. I think that I may be interested in Wall Street. Taking Kenneth Walker Properties public has been crossing my mind.

Richard in full investment banker mode said, "It sounds like you are not sure what you want to do and when and how you want to do it."

Kenneth said, "You just nailed it. I am as undecided as I have ever been. I don't have a clue, what I want."

Still, completely in investment banker mode, Richard said "I hope this helps you. At this point in the game, you are right where you should be. Making any decision is a ways off. You are in a good position to learn and those things you learn will help you make good decisions. Timing will be important. It should take you a year to prepare an initial public offering or IPO.

There are a few more realities that should be added to the things you should consider. Entering into the process is not cheap. There will be a whole bunch of lawyers, investment bankers like me, accountants, and please don't forget the consultants.

You need to make sure that you are not hurting your company's stability and future growth. The most important issue may be, how your leadership team feels. Down to every man or woman, they have to be all on board with your decision. They are going to need to have the willingness to step up their game on day-to-day stuff and be fully committed to the IPO as well."

The two businessmen went on talking for over an hour. Kenneth brought up some concerns and fears that he had become comfortable enough to say out loud. Richard convinced him that his feelings of concern were the norm.

There came a point in the conversation where Kenneth felt like he got what he came to get. He did not want to take up any more of this busy man's time.

He said, "I feel a lot better than I felt before we talked. I think I have some direction." He reached into his pocket and took out one of his cards. Handing it to Richard, he said, "Please send me a bill for your time, you have been a big help. "

Richard said, "I will take the card, but I will not be billing you. I would like to be the banker that takes you through the process, but for now, we are just a couple of neighbors so to speak, talking."

Smiling Kenneth gave his thanks and stood. Without saying anything, he sat back down. Then he said, "Speaking of neighbors, A few days ago, Deidra Carmichael's friend Brian came to see me. He said he was there to ask about the spacing of the streetlights. After a while, he got to his real reason for being there. He had questions about the sale of lot forty-three, the vacant lot on your street.

Richard said, "His questions were about the black guy, weren't they?"

"Yep, that was it. He started in on how there was going to be trouble if I sold the property to that guy. Moving in a black person that had been born and raised poor, all of sudden becoming a millionaire is just asking for trouble. Anyone can see that will not work.

He went on to explain how the group of families that are currently on that block is doing well. We are establishing friendships because we all have the same values and respect for each other.

I told him I did not see the problem that he sees. I played pro football for three years. I met a lot of blacks that became millionaires after being raised poor. From what I saw not one of them reach the point where they couldn't live in their neighborhoods."

Richard said, "I heard him speaking on that subject one night at my home. He had a lot of facts that I think were not facts."

Kenneth said, "They weren't. He told me that Marcus, that's his name Marcus Williamson was an unemployed ditch digger when he won the lottery. That is not true. It was winning the lottery that made him quit his job at North Texas Gas and Electric. He has a college degree, and that job was not as a ditch digger. He was an administrator and negotiator of legal contracts with the cities where the gas company supplied service. According to him, after winning the lottery some of the co-workers at NTG & E that he had known for years began to treat him differently. So, he purchased a home for his mother then moved to Europe for a couple of years."

Richard did a slight chuckle, then said, "You are right the guy you met and the guy that Brian thinks he knows are very different."

Kenneth joined in and said, "Richard, I'm sorry for dumping all that on you, but I am a bit concerned that there may come a problem in Camelot overall and in your neighborhood in particular. From what I am seeing at this point, the black guy is not it. I know that this is my problem, not yours, but I did want you to know what may come up in the future."

Richard understood what Kenneth was telling him, so he thanked him for sharing the information. The two men finalized their meeting and made plans to talk about the IPO soon. They also made plans to have a beer together in the future and just talk about the Texas weather, the Dow Jones, whether or not Dallas needs a quarterback or whatever else is relevant.