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"In a way." Tyler rubbed his chin. "I realized that every player has their own story, and when you put those together, they form a sort of interwoven fabric. It's not only about the game, then, but it includes the culture and major historical events surrounding the games. It all clicked into place for me."
"That's awesome. A lot of people can't connect things like that." Tyler's talk about baseball reminded me of myself as a child, the nerdy kid telling everybody about the latest facts he learned from reading books written for people twice his age.
"There's something else, too. When I was a kid, the teacher had us check out books from the school library, and I devoured books about great historical discoveries, like finding King Tut's tomb and deciphering the meaning of the Rosetta Stone. I dreamed about being the guy to make a breakthrough like those that changed how we look at the world."
I grinned. "We would have been best friends in elementary school."
Tyler's smile lit up his entire face. "I appreciate that you see my interests in baseball and history as something other than an obsession."
"Not that at all, and I have my own things I get totally wrapped up in, like the tech world and startup companies."
Tyler leaned back after he downed more of his beer. "Tell me more about that. Do you run a company?"
"I do."
"Wow, it must take a lot of clear focus and a lot of time to build something like that from scratch."
"It does, I suppose," I fiddled with my fork, "but I wouldn't do anything differently. Meeting the challenge was a high that's hard to explain."
"What exactly does your company do?"
I sipped my wine and took a moment to put my thoughts into words. "Our specialty is putting together AI-driven tools to help businesses out. Our best-known product is one that comes up with the best ways to organize the supply chain. We help businesses be more efficient and reduce their costs. Ultimately, that results in lower prices for consumers. That's my elevator speech."
Tyler nodded, clearly impressed. "What you do could be a game-changer for many industries, particularly if you could help them avoid that supply chain traffic jam we had a while back. Christmas shopping for toys for my nieces was a nightmare."
I smiled, and it was hard not to feel a massive surge of pride. "It has been big for some of our customers. We've been fortunate to work with some of the biggest names in tech, retail, and manufacturing."
"I would suspect you have a lot of investors who believe in what you're doing."
I nodded, swirling the wine in my glass. "We've been lucky to get major funding from some of the top-tier venture capital firms. It let us scale quickly and bring in some of the best young talent."
"That's incredibly exciting," Tyler said, shaking his head in admiration. "I've read about how competitive the tech world can be, especially for startups. You're a winner, Ronan. Congrats."
My cheeks flushed at his praise. "Thank you. It hasn't always been easy, but I'm proud of what we've built. We recently expanded into new offices in London, Tokyo, and Sydney. The whole thing has been a wild ride, but I wouldn't trade it for anything."
Tyler raised his glass, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "To chasing dreams and making them a reality, no matter how wild the ride gets."
I clinked my glass against his, holding his gaze. "To chasing dreams, and to the people who make the journey worthwhile."
Suddenly, the implications of our conversation appeared to dawn on Tyler. He opened his eyes wide. "Wait, you're the founder. Does that mean you're a b… billionaire?" His gaze zeroed in on my cufflinks. "Are those platinum?"
I lowered my head. I wasn't trying to show off, but I wanted to be honest, too. "Yes, that's what the financial reporters say, and the cufflinks are… platinum. This is an entirely new world for me. My parents didn't have money, and I started working on the company right out of college with a few friends. Four years later, they've all bailed for other projects, and here I am."
"I had no idea. How incredible—a billionaire in Blue Harbor. You must be so proud of yourself."
"Most of the time, I am, but sometimes I still feel like that kid in his dorm room, pounding away at the keyboard and dreaming big. Does that make sense?"
"Absolutely." Tyler picked at the label on his beer bottle. "It's not on the same scale, but I never dreamed I'd actually get to be a baseball coach, and now, I have a great chance of even being a manager someday."
While our conversation veered off in other directions, it eventually returned to Great-Uncle Ian. Tyler couldn't wait to hear me share more of his stories.
"I can't remember when he wasn't sharing wild stories about curious places and crazy experiences. He told us about finding secret fortunes and long-lost objects all over the world."
Our server appeared and took our order before Tyler leaned forward. "So… fortunes, what kind of fortunes?"
I smiled and recalled some of the tales. "One of his most exciting yarns was about a treasure he said he uncovered in the Amazon. It was a chest of gold coins and jewels lost by the Spanish conquistadors. That Christmas, he showed us a scar on his forearm that he said was a jaguar scratch from the jungle."
Tyler chuckled. "Like something right out of a Tarzan novel. Did you ever worry he was making it all up?"
