My Life in Hollywood C25 Bold Offer (Patreon)

At Marcus's usual spot—the café near Nathan's studio—Jefferson sat with his coffee, studying the documents spread before him. He took a slow sip, eyes scanning the projections one more time.

Across from him, Marcus waited. Two weeks since Netflicks launched, and they'd hit 113 subscribers. Word of mouth was doing its job, but growth felt glacial. And those numbers didn't tell the whole story—fifteen cancellations already, with more inevitable churn ahead.

The revenue was inconsistent. Unpredictable. Not what Marcus needed to see.

That's why he'd jumped at the chance to meet with Jefferson, even though the investor had made him wait a week before agreeing to sit down. He'd prepared the paperwork meticulously, laying out the vision as clearly as he could.

Streaming didn't exist yet—not really. But Marcus knew the clock was ticking. If he didn't scale fast, someone else would. The moment competitors saw the potential, they'd flood the market with capital he couldn't match alone. They'd be the first to scale, the first to take the risk, and they'd bury him.

His fantasy of owning Netflicks outright would evaporate. Some copycat with deeper pockets would dominate instead.

MySpace invented social networking, but Facebook crushed them because Zuckerberg scaled faster. Xerox invented the graphical interface, but Apple and Microsoft commercialized it. Being first means nothing if someone else goes bigger.

To win streaming, Marcus had to accept investment. Had to fund the scale-up.

But he'd be damned if he pulled a Steve Jobs—kicked out of his own company by the board. He needed overwhelming control. The majority shareholder. The king.

Everyone else? Peasants. Nobles, maybe, if they were lucky. Scattered shareholders with just enough stake to stay loyal, but never enough to challenge the throne.

This was his kingdom. And he'd decide who got to be a lord.

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