We signed the term sheet together.
Caroline posted the photo in our fundraising channel with two words: “We signed!!!”
It was a very good moment. It was also not the end of the round.
The next job was to turn one commitment into a completed raise. I started going back through the people who had heard about Loop when it was mostly a thesis and an ambitious deck. Now I could tell them we had a lead and a signed term sheet. The company was still early, but the conversation had changed.
I was also headed west.
LA Tech Week gave me an excuse to be in Santa Monica, see friends, go to events, and find out who else might be interested in the company Caroline and I had started that summer. I wrote one investor that I was back in Santa Monica through Saturday and taking advantage of the week. If there was anything worth attending, or anybody I should meet, I was game.
The plan was not more complicated than that. Go where people were. Ask for the meeting. See who I could bump into.
The trip also landed on Amanda's birthday and our anniversary. My birthday was in the same stretch. I had built a week that was part fundraising trip, part celebration, part visit with people I care about, and part excuse to ride a bike somewhere with actual hills.
This is a normal way for my calendar to become ridiculous.
I had a few birthday things, reviewed product work between them, and kept the investor conversations moving. One night I told the team I had not finished a final review because I had been doing birthday stuff. I would get into it that night and the next morning.
That was not a grand statement about balance. I was behind on something and said why.
The bike ride helped. The road was cloudy and the climb was real enough that the photo from it looks exactly like I felt: happy, slightly cooked, and still moving.
Then Friday delivered another no.
The investor had been impressed by us and by the vision. The deal still did not work for them. A signed term sheet does not turn every other firm into a yes. It gives the company momentum. It does not remove everybody else's math, timing, or opinion.
That was the weird part of the week. We had crossed a line worth celebrating, and we were still pitching. We had more certainty than the week before, but not certainty. The Alpha was moving, the round was moving, and both could still go sideways.
I liked Los Angeles. Caroline was sending me notes about the energy in San Francisco. I told her SF was icky and suggested a bi-coastal LA and New York company instead.
This was not serious geographic strategy. I was on a good trip and lobbying for the version that included more ocean and more bike rides.
Term sheet signed. Birthdays celebrated. Anniversary celebrated. One more no in the inbox.
Good week. Weird week.