In College Her Friends Mocked His Torn Clothes… 5 Years Later He Became a Millionaire—and Their Boss
Chapter 6
Two years after graduation, Daniel rented his first office.
It had six employees.
A cheap coffee machine.
Secondhand desks.
And a whiteboard covered in numbers.
His company was called Reed Systems.
The software had evolved into a platform used by thousands of businesses.
Daniel was twenty-eight.
He still didn’t consider himself successful.
“We need more engineers,” his operations manager said.
“We’ll hire.”
“We also need a sales team.”
“We’ll build one.”
“And investors are calling again.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Which ones?”
“The serious ones.”
Daniel smiled.
“That’s dangerous.”
“Why?”
“They think we’re serious too.”
The company grew.
Revenue doubled.
Then tripled.
A major retail chain signed a contract.
Then another.
Within a year, Reed Systems was valued at more than twenty million dollars.
Daniel finally moved his mother into a comfortable home.
She cried when she saw it.
“You did this?”
“We did.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed at him.
“You did.”
Daniel hugged her.
“I couldn’t have done it without you.”
That evening, his mother asked:
“Do you ever think about college?”
Daniel looked out the window.
“Sometimes.”
“Anyone you miss?”
He thought of Sophia.
The torn jacket.
The party.
The way she had once looked embarrassed to stand beside him.
“I don’t know.”
His mother smiled.
“Then maybe you haven’t decided yet.”
