Mark looked at her, opened his mouth to say something, but thought the better of it.  He sat back again on his reclining black leather Charles Soames chair, which he knew was more than a match for his body frame (“classic mid-century furniture. Can’t go wrong with it” was his mantra for the stylish mid-century furniture in their office.)  He rested his feet on the matching footstool, fingers interlinked behind his head.

“I’m not sure how much more you can wow me after today, but okay.  I’m all ears.  Tell me what you’ve got.”

“Green tech.”

“Green tech, what?”

“I think we can move into green tech, and court a couple of clients I’ve been scouting out, who I’ve heard will soon be looking for the services of a merchant bank to not only give them corporate advice, but also take the lead on some M&A deals  they could be cooking up, and that could be floated soon.  We’ve got funds parked in T bills and bonds that are only earning so much now, and if we move them to green tech, when we realize those investments later on, it will be an amazing return for us.”

“Or we can move the funds to internet-tech, instead.  All kinds of analysis are indicating a possible boom there in 6-12 months. And we’ve already got a couple of prized clients in that sector.  No need to work at adding new clients in a new sector like green tech.”

Diane nodded.  She’d seen the same analysis.  And agreed with them, even.

“What I’m proposing is a sub-fund, if you will, focused on just one or two green tech firms.  More venture funds are doing it, Mark, particularly in San Francisco.  Klein & Park is doing it, and other boutique firms have drafted plans to open funds in that field.  They wouldn’t be if there wasn’t a future in it…”

She’d seen Mark’s implacable face before when he was unconvinced about a proposal or concept being pitched to him.  And she’d heard that someone had tried to sell he and George on green tech several years ago, and they hadn’t gone for it then.  He was beginning to assume that face now, as they talked.  When she’d started looking into this she knew it would be an uphill battle to combat the downhill momentum of those factors in Mark’s mind.  But she knew the landscape in the sector was very different today from what it had been even just a couple of years ago.  There were viable clients with solid track records and bankable strategies now.  The firm would be crazy to skip this opportunity, and let other merchant banks grab these clients.