gh the engineering de

ings, my team was already there. David, my first hire and no

fice, Sarah," he said, his v

personally recruited from college hackathons, the ones I had stayed up a

onal items into a cardboard box. A framed photo of the original five of us i

s crossed, a smug little smile playing

eah, there's a problem. Y

n needs me close by for strategic alignment. I'm s

bsurd coming from her mouth. S

at her, their silence

ctural diagrams for our next-gen product. "You'll need to have this all

lt. Those diagrams represented month

ce sharp. I turned to face her fully. "Y

pping with condescension. "I think I know

t know the first thing about the product that makes this company exist. That board is the

behind me, a si

ed. She looked toward Ethan's office, expect

gain her composure. "Fine. Just have your thin

, her heels clicking on th

d to me. "We're not going to stand f

have stock options, families. Don

. "It's because of what's right. You are this company. W

I felt a flicker of something other than pain. I felt a profound, ach

e to think," I said. "Jus

saw the look in their eyes. T