A brief silence.
Mike spoke first, which Ryan hadn't expected. "Because my last company was spending time building something nobody needed for people who didn't care, and I watched it happen and stayed anyway because the salary was fine." He shrugged. "This one has a reason to exist. That's not as common as it sounds."
Liam said, "The problem is a real one. I've worked inside companies that were drowning in exactly what we're describing. I know what the solution is worth to the people who need it."
Danny said, "Ryan called me after years of not talking and told me we were going to build what we said we'd build in college. That's the reason."
Sophie's answer was more straightforward.
---
Sophie said, "I believed in the product before I believed in the salary. The salary helped."
Iralis said, "The technical problem is interesting. The team is competent. Those two things together are rarer than people assume."
Diana sat with that for a moment.
Then she looked at Dr. Cole.
