himself as the others were. And it had felt easy.
‘My father always says, “Push hard”,’ he said. ‘“Push hard and then harder.” Always get up and make them call you back.’
‘Is that more of that oligarch stuff?’ asked Kevin.
Andrei nodded.
‘What about giving him that extra half a per cent? We could have got seventeen and a half. You gave him eighteen.’
‘If you can, make people feel like a winner.’
‘That’s from your father as well?’
‘Yeah. Make them feel like a winner – or else make sure you have a very big man you can call on.’
Kevin and Ben laughed.
‘He’s never applied any of this,’ said Andrei in a tone of bewilderment, still wondering at what he had just done. ‘It’s talk. When we bought our house in Boston, he paid the exact price they asked.’
‘Dude, who cares? What else did he teach you?’
‘Nothing. That’s it.’ Suddenly Andrei frowned. ‘That was pretty good, wasn’t it?’
‘That was awesome.’ Kevin whooped again. ‘You are the negotiator.’
As they headed back to Robinson, Andrei thought about what had just happened. He had learned a lesson. When people came to him with an interest in Fishbowll, he could push them hard. Very hard.
But he had winged it. He had gone into the meeting totally unprepared – hadn’t even taken the obvious precaution of talking to another agency. He had only Ed Standish’s word that 25 per cent was the standard ad agency commission. He had no idea if a million dollars was a large guarantee or a small one. And now he had reached the end of his father’s crude and theoretical teachings about success in business.
By the time the three of them were crossing Sterling Quad back to the dorm, Andrei’s sense of wonder at what he had just done had been replaced by a sense of foreboding. They were amateurs. They were three clowns who had turned up for that meeting and somehow come out of it without being recognized for what they were. There was so much, Andrei suspected, that he didn’t know, that he didn’t even know enough to know that he didn’t know it.
13
THE HALF A million dollars from 4Site arrived a fortnight later. Andrei sat at his screen, checking the bank account every ten minutes until he saw it arrive. He yelled to the others. Kevin let out a whoop.
The first advertisements were on Fishbowll within four weeks, almost six months to the day after the site was launched. When users logged in, they saw a button titled, ‘Sponsored Bait’, with a tag underneath: ‘Check it out to see if you get Hooked!’ The button gave no idea of what was being advertised. Embracing Ed Standish’s idea that advertising, if possible, should complement and even enhance the user experience, Andrei had worked to find a form of advertising that would reinforce Fishbowll’s central vision – the taking of a journey into the world of your interests where the destination was unknown. He guessed that if people didn’t know what was being advertised, but were certain that it would chime with their interests, they would be more likely to click to find out what it was about.
Andrei had announced the move in a post in the Grotto. He had thought hard about the attitude to strike and had talked it over with Ben, who knew the mood of the Grotto better than anyone. They both knew they were going to face a backlash, especially from the 300. Although Andrei wished he didn’t have to do what he was doing, Ben thought the backlash would hit harder and last longer if he was apologetic about it. People would feel that if they shouted loud enough he might relent. He decided therefore to be positive and upfront. He also decided to announce the move only the day before it was implemented. A prolonged debate before people had the opportunity actually to experience the advertisements for themselves would inevitably be fuelled by misconception and fear, and would play into the hands of people opposed to advertising or to change in general – which, Andrei knew, would be just about everyone.
‘Fellow Fish,’ he wrote, ‘tomorrow we are introducing Sponsored Baits on Fishbowll. The reality is that if we are to continue to provide our service, and make the improvements you are telling us you want, this is something we have to do. Our aim is to bring you messages from highly selected and trusted partners about things you are genuinely interested in, many of which will