Seventy-two hours later, at the office of Specter Goodman & Crane in Los Angeles, California.
In a large conference room, Eric was seated at the table along with three other men, one of whom had his eyes closed, seemingly in deep meditation.
"Mr. Li."
"You can call me Eric."
"Eric, as you know, the combined expertise of our firm is unmatched. Corporate law, taxation, mergers, venture capital, finance... You name it. We are simply the best in California. And where others do not tread, we do. We will go above and beyond for our clients, if you know what I mean," Jim Goodman, one of the three name partners of the firm, finished his pitch to Eric.
"Eric, what do you say?" Harry Specter, the first name partner of the firm, looked at Eric.
Eric stood up from his seat and walked along the long table until he stood in front of Jim Goodman.
Extending his hand, Eric said with a smile, "That's exactly what I'm looking for."
Jim and Harry got out of their seats and, with smiles on their faces, shook Eric's hand.
Harry Specter spoke with a self-satisfied smile, "We knew you'd choose us. We started the paperwork yesterday when you called."
"By the end of the day, we will have a network of holding companies, subsidiaries, and offshore entities obfuscating your ownership. It'll be owned by a trust, and you'll be its sole beneficiary. You should go shopping for those facilities you talked about."
Eric grinned. "Haha, I will. I'll let the firm handle the negotiations."
Harry nodded.
Just then, Eric felt a hand on his shoulder. When he turned around, the person grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously.
"You've made the right choice. Specter Goodman & Crane doesn't lose. Benny Crane."
"Eric Li."
"Benny Crane."
"..."
***
Two days later, when Eric was touring an industrial park in San Francisco, he received a message from Jim Goodman.
Good News? I should call him...
"Hey Jim, got your message."
"Avante Inc. is now a registered Delaware company. And you're the CEO, congratulations."
A smile crept up Eric's face. "Thank you—"
Eric was cut off by Jim, "Another piece of news... If you're not hung up on being in California, there's a brand new state-of-the-art facility up for sale in North Carolina."
"A new facility? Where?"
"Probably the best alternative to Silicon Valley, The Research Triangle. Global Foundries completed their brand new facility at the beginning of this year, but due to strategic and management concerns, decided to consolidate and put the facility up for sale.
"It's 150 Acres, with 600,000 square feet of floor space, including office space, production facilities, and clean room space.
"What do you think?"
Eric was pleasantly surprised. Unless he used the System to build the facilities, it would take a couple of years at the minimum to build such a facility. Having a ready-made brand new facility was a godsend. "How much?"
"They're keen to offload it before the next quarter, and the highest offer they have on hand is somewhere south of 200 Million dollars. If you're willing to fork out 250 Million, we could hammer the deal out in a week."
Eric didn't hesitate, it was a small price to pay, and more importantly, he didn't have to worry about money. Even if he blew the 760 Million in his account, he could always make more with the help of the System.
"Done. I'm counting on your firm to handle the deal. I'll also need your help to form the legal department, HR, and whatever is necessary to run the company. Even if it costs a bit more, I want it all to be expedited."
"Hey, who can resist those last words... It'll sting a little, but I promise, you'll get an office you could walk right in and start working. We'll handle the trivialities."
"Hmm. Keep me posted. See you."
Eric punched the air in joy and excitement.
CEO Eric Li... Avante Inc... Hahaha
Eric grinned as he decided to end the tour and head back to Oakland to the hotel he moved into, a couple of days back. He initially thought of buying a house, but now it seemed California wouldn't be his home for long.
***
Two days later, at the Academic Office of the EECS department, at UC Berkeley.
"We could develop a personalized academic plan, it would be a travesty for you to drop out. If it's just in the initial phases, you could apply for our accelerator programs like SKYDECK and CITRIS. Dropping out to run a startup that may or may not have a future... You should reconsider."
With a faint smile, Eric replied, "We've raised a couple hundred million dollars and we're in negotiations to purchase a 300 Million dollar facility in the Research Triangle, North Carolina."
The academic advisor's eyes widened in shock. After a brief moment, he recovered, "The administration will be pleased to know. I— I'll process your withdrawal."
Eric smiled.
A few hours later, at the Office of Technology Licensing, Eric was meeting with the Associate Director, Kelly Lane.
"Miss Lane, as I explained just now, I want to buy a pool of patents for my startup."
"As you know, the University strongly prefers to license the patents rather than sell them."
"The pool of patents I'm interested in are highly speculative, some, extremely so. They aren't particularly valuable to the University and they don't generate any ongoing revenue. The patents I have in mind, I think the University might be willing to sell them at an attractive price."
A few phone calls later, Kelly Lane returned to her seat.
"The OTL and IPIRA will need to sit down with our legal team, but I think it's possible. If you have a legal team, have them contact us with the list. I wish the best of luck to your startup."
"We have plenty of roles waiting to be filled," Eric smiled as he broached the topic of hiring.
Kelly chuckled, "Thank you, but I'll have to decline."
With a smile, Eric nodded as he left the office of Technology Licensing.
***