Seated in a plush leather chair at a local coffee shop, I answered emails. About half an hour into my work session, two men came in and asked if the three other chairs around me were available. “Yes, by all means,” I said. They nodded their thanks, sat down across from each other, took their cell phones out and began making calls.

The man on my right seemed to be checking his voicemail, while the man on my left began a jovial conversation. He ended the call quickly and said to his companion, “He’s right down the road - he’ll be here shortly.” I continued typing away, and in what seemed to be a matter of minutes, a third gentleman walked in.

The third gentleman was a bit older than the first two and seemed very comfortable as he sat down in the chair across from me. Everyone appeared to be happy to see each other. After making their greetings, one of the men got up to get coffee for the rest. At this point, the third arrival addressed me directly, “How’s that computer you’re using, do you like it?”

I was working on an iBook running OS X and I love it, so I said, “Yeah, it’s a great machine. I highly recommend it.” We bantered back and forth about computers for a bit, and he returned to his conversation.

A few minutes later, he says to me, “What do you do?” At that point I gave him my spiel about being an entrepreneur. He appeared to understand, but also appeared confused, “What’s that?” he asked. “I start companies,” I replied. He continued inquiring about the types of companies, and I gave him the rundown on my current projects. The combination of knowledge and seemingly faux ignorance left me curious.

I asked him what he did. “I’m retired,” he replied. “Sounds like a nice gig,” I said. He said he worked for the yellowpages for 23 years in sales. “Really, selling advertising?” I asked. “Yep,” he replied. Things didn’t seem quite right. The man in front of me didn’t look or act like a yellow page ad salesman. Our conversation ended. My interest piqued, I returned to my email.

He and his colleagues pulled their chairs close and began speaking in whispers. Every so often, I caught phrases like, “$7.5 million gross sales…” and eventually I heard them say, “so we need $20 million for the acquisition.” Things were defintely not as they appeared to be. My interest level raised another notch.

Since they obviously knew it was impossible for me to avoid hearing their conversation, I couldn’t resist interjecting. I said, “you are looking for $20 million?” “Yeah, ” said the older man, “why, do you have it?” “No,” I replied.

What followed was a very random conversation related to the purchase of a manufacturing firm which makes electronics accessories. Along the way, my previous company and my new company Investment Instruments came up.

Through this bizarre exchange, I provided a suggestion or two on where to look for financing, and the topic of the financing I’m looking for came up. The older gentleman says to me, “This isn’t my type of deal, but call John Bulfinch at this number, ” he rattled off a local phone number, “and tell him Dave Smithfield sent you because you have a deal that’s up his nephew’s alley. His nephew is a computer geek, so he’ll know what I’m referring to.”

I said thanks, gave out a few cards, packed up my things, wished them luck, and walked out the door, an apparent investment lead in hand. I quickly returned home, googled the names that I had acquired and learned that the older gentleman was a retired Chairman and CEO of a prominent manufacturing firm.

Needless to say, I was intrigued. I called the lead the next day, spoke with John Bulfinch, and the following day spoke with his nephew and set up a meeting.

To Be Continued….

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