1 24 pm pdt   [ know it ]

I've always felt that you don't really have to know something if you know someone who knows it. In other words, I consider my friends' knowledge to be part of my extended knowledge base. This really hit me today when I was asked to mail over a contract agreement. I offered to pass along two business ideas to contacts I have and I e-mailed the guy I am negotiating with to say that I wanted a finder's fee agreement in writing before I sent the business plans off. He e-mailed me back and said to send over the agreement so that his lawyers could look at it. My eyes popped out a bit. I have to come up with the agreement?!? And then I sighed a bit. My dad can draw me up a contract in less than a minute. I don't have to know how to do this, because I know someone else who does...

The other reason my eyes popped out is because I have to come up with the terms of this agreement. The way this finder's fee came about was a discussion over lunch in which I said I knew someone who was involved in venture capital nonsense and whom I though would be interested in seeing ----'s business plan. The conversation went something like this:

"You should persue this," he suggested. "There could be a substantial finder's fee in it for you."

"Finder's fee?" This hadn't even occurred to me. "How substantial?"

"However much you negotiate." He paused. "You could make five thousand dollars." He said it dead pan..

"Did you just say twenty-five percent?" I tried to look innocent. "That would be great."

"No, I said five thousand dollars."

"Yes, twenty-five percent would be great."

Later on he said, "You do know the standard is five percent." I coughed into my hand and said, "Fifteen."