The Future Is Yours: A Novel
Page 4
They’re lucky to have you.
Thanks.
If anything ever opens up that sounds like a good fit…
Would be rad if you could put in a good word.
I’m dying at Verizon.
Hungry to get back into tech.
I’ll keep an eye out.
But honestly, no one is looking to me for HR recs.
Apparently I’m not considered a “culture fit.”
Haha tf does that mean?
Hell if I know.
See if you can translate, forwarding now…
FORWARD
From: Adhvan Chaudry
To: Ben Boyce
Original Email—December 18, 2020
From: Matthew Constantine, Senior Manager
To: Adhvan Chaudry
Hey Adhvan,
Hope it’s a great Friday my man! We’ve all been impressed with your work since you came aboard. Definitely a solid start here, and your intelligence is a wow-factor. Which says a lot in a place like this!
However, wanted to make you aware, there have been some concerns about your culture fit. We’re a team-based organization, and it’s important for everyone here to invest in our community. If social skills are not your forte, the company offers many great opportunities to connect with other people, from Volleyball to Yoga to Ceramics and more!
We’d like to have you in for an informal chat first week back after the holiday. Janice from HR will be joining us, just as a formality. This is totally meant to be a conversation, not dictating anything. It’s really just an opportunity to discuss how you’re vibing and explore opportunities for growth.
Swing on by my office after the holiday break, say Monday the 4th at 4:00?
Your bud,
Matt
TEXT MESSAGE EXCHANGE
BEN BOYCE
December 25, 2020 10:55 PM
ADHVAN CHAUDRY
LMK what you think of that.
Hahahaha it means you’re a weirdo.
Even at a company that employs thousands of computer engineers.
FML.
Just join a book club or somethin
You like books.
Ugh it’s gonna be some Tony Robbins shit.
Tony’s the man.
Don’t knock him till ya try him.
Kill me now.
Hang in there bud, it’ll blow over.
Hey if you’re free tomorrow night…
Wanna go meet up at the Dish?
Old times’ sake and all that.
Drink beers and look at the stars.
Aw man love to but we’re doin some big dinner thing with Leila’s fam.
Ham and carols, white people heaven.
You wanna join?
I’m sure it’s cool, one of Lei’s friends is comin too
And she’s single and smart af;)
Thanks but that sounds like literal hell for a brown dude with social anxiety.
Haha fair nuff, another time
Btw meant to ask you awhile back, you ever do anything w the dissertation you worked on?
Your thwarted grad school brilliance
Oh yeah, it’s been a game-changer for me.
Paperweight-wise.
Hell of a doorstopper too.
And if you need homemade chinese fans…It can transform into 117.
Think you could send it my way?
Sure.
It’s not exactly a page-turner.
But knock yourself out.
Thanks man.
Take care.
CHAPTER 3
EMAIL—JANUARY 2, 2021
To: Adhvan Chaudry
From: Ben Boyce
Hey man, read through your thesis paper over the break, and….WHAT?! This is insane in all the right ways. Just to be clear what you’re talkin about here—it’s a motherfuckin TIME MACHINE. Right?!
Why are you not doing anything with this RIGHT THE FUCK NOW? Why are WE not doin this? Bro is this what you’re workin on at Google?
Hit me back ASAP,
Ben
REPLY
B—
Glad you enjoyed the paper. That makes one.
First off, it’s a theoretical device.
As I explain in the Conclusion, there are currently numerous technical obstacles for which technological solutions do not yet exist.
It is decidedly not what I’m working on at Google.
My work here is tangentially related
(in the sense that it involves Quantum Computing)
but it’s for much more prosaic commercial purposes.
Financial models, weather patterns, shoot me now.
Granted, I have gotten to work with technology here that would actually solve one of the aforementioned technical obstacles.
Google is much further along on Q processing than anyone in the academic CS world is even remotely aware.
But I digress.
Calling it a Time Machine is not strictly accurate.
It’s more…a computer that could talk to its future self.
Nothing worth losing your mind over.
—A
REPLY
Hey man you’re massively underselling yourself (as usual) and the shit you came up with. OK I get it’s not some HG Wells go-back-and-meet-the-dinosaurs type of deal, but whatever you wanna call it, a computer that talks to the future is a big deal! You get that shit working, you could see forward in time, right? You could make that and just win the lottery overnight, yeah? Who wouldn’t want that? It’s gotta be worth exploring. What do you need to make it happen?
Let’s do this,
Ben
REPLY—JANUARY 8, 2021
B—
Sorry for the delay, my plate has been full.
I’m hanging on by a thread here.
My participation in Google book club did not go well.
Mostly bc I did not agree with the author’s utterly unscientific claims that we are happier
if we “dare greatly” and “practice vulnerability.”
I don’t mind being called “confrontational”
but when someone labels me with the word “robotic”
I know that I have, effectively, been exiled from the group.
With regard to the tech—
I’m not sure how it would work.
Building it is not something I could undertake with my own resources.
The coding part, yes, I could manage.
But what we’re talking about is hardware not just software.
Conservatively, I would need $50K+ budget for materials, lab space, basic R&D, just to start.
And honestly, hundreds of hours.
My “free time” these days amounts to maybe 10 hrs/week,
and my free brain space is at 0.
—A
REPLY
Dude I can solve all those problems. Money, time, R&D, what you’re talking about is Seed Funding. And if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s raising a seed round. It’s all about the right idea at the right time.
As far as that’s concerned, this idea is perfect, cause this year, quantum is the new blockchain. It’s the magic word, you put that shit in a prospectus tomorrow, you get VCs droppin their panties and shittin out seed rounds. Nobody knows what the fuck quantum processing is (just like nobody knew how blockchain worked) but everybody knows it’s the future.
The Future. That’s the name of the company. Think about it!
Let’s…build…THE FUTURE!
&n
bsp; Hit me back quick or I’m gonna blow up your phone with texts, this shit is too good to sit on,
Ben
REPLY
B—
OK I don’t want to dampen your enthusiasm but I have to raise a couple points.
1) Re: funding, you’re talking about Freewerx, right? I don’t want to pour salt in that wound but it’s not exactly a success story.
2) Re: “the new blockchain”—in the wake of the crypto bubble bursting, that hardly seems like a ringing endorsement.
3) Re: The Future…No. Just, no. That is literally the dumbest name for a company that I’ve ever heard.
—A
REPLY
Alright bro, I’m not gonna press you on it. You can stay put and live that nice mediocre Google life, maybe someday make your way up to middle management, build a better widget, whatever…
But on some of those shots, I just wanna set the record straight. Freewerx wasn’t a bad idea, it just wasn’t the right team. If I’d had you in the mix, might’ve even panned out. And I did succeed in doing my part, which was working my ass off to raise $1.5M in less than six months to get that off the ground. Just didn’t have legs. Or wings, I guess. For lots of entrepreneurs the first failure is just the price of admission.
Blockchain—OK, point taken. I’m just saying, I got my finger on the pulse, and I know what it takes to get funded.
The Future is a deadass great name, not backin down on that one bit. You think TheFacebook.com was a great name? Hell no. But now it’s shortened and ubiquitous and people say it like a verb. I guarantee we get your machine working, people gonna talk about “I’m gonna Future that…”
Your boy, now and forever,
Ben
REPLY
B—
What about the ethical hazards I raise in the paper?
We can’t just ignore that.
Have you read the original research paper for the Google search algorithm?
It’s available online.
In the conclusions, they undercut their own idea.
They say there is probably no widespread application for it
bc they identify selling ads as the only potential revenue source,
and then proceed to lay out the ethical challenges of doing so.
Selling ads compromises the integrity of search.
Yet it became their entire business plan.
Do you really want to weave moral compromise into the fabric of a new business, from the moment of its inception?
—A
REPLY
Dude you are actually making MY point! The things that they called ethical challenges in that paper, turns out they were actually just the ingredients in a recipe for printing money. If you get stuck in old-fashioned morality you can’t move forward. And now, OK, they’re making money selling ads in search, big deal…meanwhile their algorithm made the Internet what it is today, and they’re funding Google X and doing all kinds of amazing save-the-world research.
Don’t you want to be the next Sergey and Larry? Don’t you wanna take over the world together?
REPLY
B—
To be clear…you want me to quit my job.
Knowing my history, knowing what happened 2 years ago, knowing I need stability…
You want me to risk all that for this business.
Based on an idea that is borderline insane.
Just making sure I got this right.
—A
REPLY
Yeah man, I wanna go all in. Both of us. I know what you got, I know what it means, but I promise you, I’ll help you keep your feet on the ground. I’m not gonna push for 90-hr weeks. I guarantee I’m gonna get us funded in 6 months, that’s all the runway you gotta commit.
And the most important difference from 2 years ago: you’re not gonna go through this ALONE. I’m with you, lock-step, equal partners, ride or die. There’s gonna be accountability, structure, and SUPPORT. You’ve gotten good professional help and meds, and if we do this you’re gonna have ME, all of me, a friend who’s got your back every single day.
Look, I need this, I need an excuse to get out of this job before I lose my mind. But I think you need this too. I know you dgaf about getting rich, but the one thing you gotta ask yourself is…don’t you wanna KNOW?! If it could WORK?!
REPLY
B—
Of course I want to know.
Jesus, straight for the achilles.
Hmmm.
What does Lei think?
—A
REPLY
Now we’re gettin somewhere! Lei thinks it’s a great idea, she’s all for it, we talked it over and she’s excited.
TEXT MESSAGE EXCHANGE
ADHVAN CHAUDRY
January 8, 2021 3:40 PM
Hey Lei.
I know it’s been awhile.
Hope you’re doing well.
LEILA KEENER-BOYCE
Hey A, great to hear from you!
I’m good, working at my dad’s firm these days. I know I swore I never would, but turns out the job market is oversaturated with lawyers, soooo here I am. The hours are nuts, but I’m working my way up.
Well…to thine own self be true.
I’m sure you’re doing what’s right for you.
Thanks! How are you?
Not bad.
Google. Salary, benefits, yada yada.
2 years I’ve been stable on my meds.
Just like a canceled TV show…No episodes.
Haha glad to hear it. Have you found a nice girl yet?
Not really.
Still playing the field? Just a few Google Groupies?
Hey you should call them GOOPIES.
No Goopies. Waiting to meet the right person.
Anyway—I was actually reaching out bc of Ben.
Wanted to check, you really think this is a good idea?
He says that you do.
4:02 PM
Hello?
TEXT MESSAGE EXCHANGE
LEILA KEENER-BOYCE
January 8, 2021 3:57 PM
Hey babe.
BEN BOYCE
Hey Princess!
What is this idea Adhi’s asking me about?
Oh it’s a business plan.
I was gonna talk to you about that tonight.
Mmm-hmm. I bet you were.
But I can tell you now.
You wanna talk on the phone?
I’m in the office now.
Well, Adhi and I want to launch a startup together.
Me + him.
It’s some tech that he cooked up in grad school.
And I think there’s real potential to it.
So would this be a side project, or a full-on quit-your-job situation?
I mean, you know how it is.
A startup’s not a side hustle.
This’s why I wanted to talk about it later.
And this was his idea?
Yeah, totally.
He just wanted me to help found and run it.
I can say no, of course.
But I want to support his dream.
And I know you wanna support mine too.
TEXT MESSAGE EXCHANGE
ADHVAN CHAUDRY
Hello?
Lei, you still there?
January 8, 2021 4:15 PM
LEILA KEENER-BOYCE
Hey, sorry, I just had to take a call, but I’m here.
Look, you’re the smartest person I know. I believe in you to change the world. If you want to bring Ben along for the ride, by
all means, go for it. I know he wants this.
OK then.
Away we go.
Sometimes it just surprises me that you guys are still friends. You are two very different energies.
Well…we both like Star Wars.
Haha is that all it takes for 2 dudes?
Honestly, out of everyone, you should understand best.
Ben is super ADHD.
But when his light shines on you, it shines bright.
And you feel like the center of the universe.
(You do know if you tell him any of this, I legit will have to kill you)
Not to worry, cone of silence.
And yes I’m certainly familiar with the feeling. But I’m sure you also know, when his light STOPS shining on you, it’s hard.
Yeah. I know.
But I can’t live my life waiting for my one real friend to get sick of me.
What about me? I’m not your real friend?
Of course.
Listen I just want you to take care of yourself. Ben’s not gonna do it. When he gets his eyes on something like this, he’s a dog with a bone. And anyone close to him can get bit.
I know.
And hey, take care of yourself too.
You deserve that.
Oh believe me, three years being married to that man, I know how to take care of myself.
I’ll try not to read into that too much.
Haha you can think whatever you want ;-)
See ya around, Adhi.
Later Lei.
EXCERPT FROM CONGRESSIONAL HEARING—DECEMBER 1, 2021
REP. AMANDA BLAKELEY (R-AZ): Based on the records we’ve seen, it appears that, from the very beginning, your company has been intimately connected not only with your so-called best friend, but also with your wife, Leila Keener-Boyce.