Prism

An afternoon on the water

August 2000. With broad smiles on our faces, we raise our champagne flutes in a toast to life. We are a team of young expats on the deck of an Amsterdam canal cruise ship. The sun is brilliant and we are Masters of the Universe.

Brent, our CEO, says: “Cheers guys, here’s to our IPO!” while at that exact same moment, behind him up on the quayside, we see two bike-riders colliding into each other. We all laugh, leaving Brent confused in the center, wondering what’s so funny. Wenke, a stunning Dutch blonde who is our Head of HR, puts Brent out of his misery by whispering  into his ear what just happened.

This gang clustered together two years ago in the hotspot for Internet start-ups that is Amsterdam, psyched by the everything-is-possible feeling embodied by the city. We are in the right place at the right time, personally kick-starting the new economy on the old continent. Putting glass fiber in the ground at an accelerating pace to feed the insatiable appetite for high-speed bandwidth.

Feeling privileged and entitled, we’re in the sweet spot of the e-economy right where the smart money predicts maximum returns.

Only six months into our start-up, we got noticed by Venture Capitalists and before we knew it, we sold out to one of the pioneer dot-coms in the Valley. At the closing meeting in their San Francisco offices, I stood next to Dave, the buyer’s global VP of marketing, a six-foot-two giant who startled me with his resounding voice: “Did you know we’re paying only 2.2M$ for a full 30-second Super-Bowl commercial, a hell of a deal! We’re on right after Pets.com.”  To which I said: “Are we sure we’re reaching our target audience during a National Football League game?” He looked at me with surprise turning into disdain, his face showing his inner dialogue: “This guy doesn’t get it.” and left me at the coffee machine.

Back in Europe, each of us now is the proud owner of a ridiculous amount of stock options. Our new owner successfully floated on NASDAQ last month, moving our options deep-in-the-money. The calls do not vest until eighteen months from now but today we are all millionaires, on paper at least. We have the confidence of seasoned entrepreneurs. Surely, this cannot slip away, we have forward momentum.

The UNESCO world heritage setting of Amsterdam’s canals is a fitting backdrop to our “Yes, we made it !” celebration. The afternoon sun burns on the water which acts as a prism, breaking the sun’s spectrum into its constituent colors.

I look at my fellow entrepreneurs. The girls wear short flowery summer dresses, the men geek t-shirts with the unavoidable funny quotes. Quite the assorted group: Irish, Dutch, American, South-African, Canadian and two Belarussian network engineers who only speak Internet Protocol. Our PR lady Natasha has recently joined from Cape Town, our Ops Director Tony is from Nebraska, they are into a heated discussion on driving Lexus versus Porsche, spending money they do not have.

I smile and savor the moment. The future sure looks lavish with opportunity.

The prospect of getting filthy rich is wildly appealing and it comes with a feeling of complete freedom.  The unrestrained energy we demonstrate as a team comes from feeling unhindered by life’s usual limitations. All the ordinary in life is adjourned until we get to the end of this ride, for better or for worse. Each member of this gang knows that we’re making history here.

Stars and planets have aligned in a once-in-a-century fashion for something this extraordinary to happen. Our good fortune brings us as close to immortality as it gets, our horizon is eternity.

For the past two years, we’ve been in a state of flow, fully immersed in this challenge that takes all of our skills. We are at the top of our game. Our motivation is intrinsic, the hierarchy is symbolic. We inherently know what to do. 

Our company’s tagline is “Failsafe”, that is how confident we are. Each of us is a domain expert and as a team, we’re shooting  for zero errors.

No need for endless discussions, our game plan is crystal clear. We’ve even named our conference rooms after famous prisons to remind ourselves not to waste time in meetings : Sing Sing, Alcatraz, Robben Island.

I feel real proud thinking about how we got here, but at the same time, something is bothering me. Staring down at the waterline, the word prism lingers from my earlier thoughts about the sunlight breaking on the canal surface. I know one cannot see what is right in front through a prism because it bends the light. I mentally ‘see’ the metaphor and acknowledge that maybe I have not been looking at things clearly. Maybe my judgment has been clouded all along by the elated mood we’ve been in as a group and the exciting thoughts about unlimited wealth?

Deep down I know that this is too good to be true. Our new owner is years away from turning a profit, yet its valuation is sky high. Our stock price is blown out of proportion, based upon unrealistic expectations, emotions really. Anything ‘brick and mortar’ is considered as doomed these days and I for one have a hard time believing that.

All said and done, if I could run to the bank and cash in my options at fifty cents  on the Dollar, I would do so right now. But the vesting schedule holds me in a golden cage. So I have really no choice but to believe the bubble will not burst. I am resolved to see this through to the end. After all, the stock analysts are falling over themselves to convince the public that this is only the start of the boom cycle. I would be crazy not to catch this strong tailwind of the new economy and miss out on the gold rush.

Looking back at myself there on the canal ship in the late afternoon sun, I see myself physically brushing my worries away. I raise my glass for a refill, looking for some liquid relief. I drink and tell myself not to worry. But I also see that the earlier lightheartedness has gone, as if floating on the water, unknowingly, the ship has passed a tipping point…

With hindsight, that day on the water in Amsterdam was a defining moment. The dot-com collapse that soon followed turned our stock options into worthless paper. The new economy crashed and burned in a spectacular fashion and the NASDAQ ended the year fifty percent off its March 2000 high. The prospects of great wealth evaporated and we each went our way.

Looking back now, we were very lucky coming out with only bruised egos. But in the moment, it felt as if our universe imploded on us, we were reduced to again being mere mortals. Stars and planets drifted back into their normal orbits.

I did not get rich there and then but a couple of things I took with me, apart from the new term dot-gone.

That feeling of flow, when ego falls away. When actions and thoughts automatically follow previous ones, when one is completely absorbed by an activity without a sense of time. I have been able to capture and bottle that feeling of being in the zone and access it later at times when excellence was needed.

And of course that flavor of immortality, there on the water in Amsterdam. Young people celebrating existence, convinced they discovered the elixir of life.

I would not have missed it for all the money in the world.

Author's Note

An updated version, thank you for all your feedback!

Reviews

[viola]

This is so much better! I can see what is happening so much more now. It's no longer a monologue but events. Well done! To make it even better try to get rid of as many "We are" and "We were" replace them with more active words. For example the first paragraph"
runs "August 2000. With broad smiles on our faces we are raising our champagne flutes in a toast to life. We are a cheerful bunch of young expats on the deck of an Amsterdam canal cruise ship. The sun is brilliant and we are Masters of the Universe."
It could run: "This is so much better! I can see what is happening so much more now. It's no longer a monologue but events. Well done! To make it even better try to get rid of as many "We are" and "We were" replace them with more active verbs. For example the first paragraph"
runs "August 2000. With broad smiles on our faces we raise our champagne flutes in a toast to life, a cheerful bunch of young expats on the deck of an Amsterdam canal cruise ship. The sun shines brilliantly and we are Masters of the Universe." Does that makes sense? It makes the imagery even more vivid. Again, this is so much improved!

[Philip Muls]

Thank you for the relevant feedback Viola !

[W.k.kortas]

What strikes me about this piece is how well you maintained the tone and point-of-view; I think the title is very appropriate, as the piece has the feel of something being filtered through the prism of time and perspective. Very strong work.

[Bear]

First I am telling everyone I can about a great writing tool I recently came across https://www.grammarly.com/1?affiliateID=1959&affiliateNetwork=ho
Interesting story, modern themed and a trending topic, could even be said to have a realistic feel as almost everyone whats to sell their startup idea. I can see this being published in a number of finance magazines once you do a final edit :~)
An example of what I mean by final edit, a ship can carry a boat, a boat cannot carry a ship so it is a canal cruise ship not boat.

[Philip Muls]

Hi, thank you for the feedback, I have made some changes to the story.

[viola]

A good write with an interesting concept. If you are looking to revise a little I would experiment with showing more than telling.
The entire story is a list of descriptions--"This is how it is" They are good descriptions, but if you could intersperse them with some flash-backs where you show the scenes--perhaps the conversation when you sold the fledgling start-up to a Silicon Valley Dot-Com--instead of just saying "this is what happened" it would give your character and therefore the story more life. On the ship describe the others with him. What are they wearing? What are they saying? What do they look like? Let the characters see and form their own opinions.

Then when you do give the descriptions of the person looking back they will be more powerful because the reader will have "remembered them" with the character instead of just had them described. Does that make any sense? As I said it is a good piece with a good point. I particularly like the last 4 paragraphs. BUT they would stand out more if the rest of the piece was showing instead of describing. Thank you for your writing!

[Philip Muls]

Hi, thank you for the feedback, I have made some changes to the story.

[Angelique]

A great read and story about what could of been. Life is all about experiences and about all the problems and success we have during the journey.

Your wording and your description brilliant, thank you for sharing

[Avinash]

An extremely enjoyable read. A very skilled writing. I have myself seen the ups and downs of IT industry and quite know that it does not matter as long as the dream continues, the feeling and excitement of a promise. We learn more about ourselves and experience what it could be if the dreams are fulfilled, success can be as disappointing and exhausting as the failure. It is the journey which we enjoy, destination is fickle. I am glad to come across such soulful writing.

[KWP]

Nicely told neat little story of what could have been. Life is about experience, yes and feeling the highs and the lows is all part of it and must never be discounted.

You have portrayed the story well by setting the mood and theme.

Many a worthwhile lesson learnt I am sure.

Great work X

[Voiceofawomanis]

Ego falls away and time flies. I love that line, it's such a true statement of the lesson we learn when a block of time has such an impact on us. Your story made me jump right in there with you and think of a few of my own ventures.

[RT]

You are such an amazing writer. You have a real talent for capturing the moments. However, there are a few small issues that I have with this piece...
"We are a collection of expats that clustered together two years ago - as if meant to be - in this hotspot for Internet start-ups, attracted by the outlook of making it big but also by the Everything-Is-Possible feeling that Amsterdam embodies so well." This sentence sticks out oddly. It seems more of a run-on. The "as if meant to be" jumps out as out of place or awkward. I might break this up into a couple of smaller sentences.
The other suggestion I would make is to add a few more concrete details to give the piece a bit more texture and depth. It is very much an internal piece, but I think a few more touches of description of the moment might make it stronger.
As always, I love your work and can't wait to see the final - a book of all the human experiences linked ;)

[Philip Muls]

Hi, thank you for the feedback, I have made some changes to the story.

[Nath]

You're doing a great job capturing a moment in the current that is time, without failing to put it in context, the greater picture.
Your descriptions of the scene are vivid, though subjective - I, the reader, also only see it all as if through a prism. I think the title definitely compliments the story perfectly well.
As for the setting, no matter the future, it is moments like that we live for. Moments when we really need to let go of our worries for the future. We cannot prevent it from happening, and while we know what followed that bubble, what will become of every bubble, why not take some time to admire the beauty of a soap bubble (also a kind of prism) while it lasts?
Excellently written! Keep it up, and keep the stories coming ;-)

[Philip Muls]

Hi, thank you for the feedback, I have made some changes to the story.

[wordman]

a great story my friend full of adventure and great images