“Let me run some numbers past you.”

Mark looked at her, eyebrows furrowed, given her track record in the short time she’d worked with the firm, he was prepared to give her some leeway on this.

Diane’s blue eyes were clear, her manner cool.  She paused between points in her presentation to emphasize the main points she’d wanted to make.  She’d lost her nervousness as she talked, warming up to the topic.  It was clear that she’d done her homework.

She handed him her tablet as she reached her last slide, which reflected the various scenarios of upward trends of earnings the firm could make, as well as their clients.

Mark sat up, eyeing the charts on the screen of her tablet, expanding parts that drew his interest.  The deal they’d closed on this morning showed Diane could hold her own against every other analyst he’d come across in running stats and coming up with analysis based on complex factors.  And it was clear she had gotten hold of serious datasets for this pitch.  The M&A slides showed activities in the lucrative Chinese market could really work out for the green tech firms Diane had zeroed in on.  Green tech investments in China outpaced those in the US by far.  The R&D assets of the target firms alone would be a goldmine, he thought.

“I recommend we focus our attention on the targeted clients I’ve highlighted here, build our relationship and business with them, finance a couple of the M&A deals they will need advice on, and track progress there before investing in others,” Diane said in the most winning voice she could muster, as she ended her brief presentation.

Mark was silent for a few minutes, as he flipped to previous screens displayed on her tablet, running his fingers lightly over his lips, from time to time concentrating on what she had presented.

Finally he opened his mouth.  “Diane…”

She cut in, arguing with more passion than she’d exhibited earlier, “Besides, Mark, this is a good thing to do.  Yes, tech investments will be sexy.  But this is an area that will not only be good for the bottom line.  It’ll be good for us. For the planet.  For the future.  ”

“Diane,” Mark interrupted her patiently, “I was just going to say, ok.  Give me some more on the firms you’ve targeted, benchmark them against others in similarly nascent fields, and then we can take it to George on Tuesday or Wednesday when he gets in from LA, alright?”