"Too late," says Maddy, and then Elad is there, video off, but his name floating in the center of the screen like the eye of a storm.
I unmute. "Hi. Thanks for making time."
Silence. For a moment, I think he hung up. Then:
"Tell me why you're not full of shit," says Elad.
I look at Jian. He nods, barely perceptible. I launch into the pitch. I talk about entropy, about learning as the reduction of uncertainty, about how all current AI is just brute force and how we're building something smarter - something that learns the way the universe learns. I talk too fast, but I get it all out.
For a while, there's just Elad's initials, silent and judging.
Then he says, "You know, I've heard fifty pitches this month. Yours was the first that didn't bore me. But I don't believe you can actually build it."
I want to argue, but Maddy jumps in. "We can build it," she says, "because we already started. We're not asking for permission. Just money."
Elad laughs. "I like her. She's right. Okay, here's the deal: I'll give you $250k for ten percent. Convertible SAFE. That's my offer. Take it or leave it."
I feel my jaw drop. Jian's eyes go wide. Maddy is grinning so hard it looks like her face might split in two.