Musketeer as Entrepreneur (Part 4): The Financial Plan

In the previous installment, we left the point in mid-conversation where D'Artagnan -- our entrepreneur -- has just completed his business plan presentation to Planchet -- the investor -- in an upper floor room of Planchet's small business. He plans to slip into England and abduct General Monk from within the encampment of his armies. Monk, he has correctly ascertained (and confirmed by history, as Dumas certainly knew), is his main obstacle to returning King Charles II to the throne of his father, Charles I, who was deposed and executed by Cromwell.

Planchet wishes to know how taking Monk will deliver the promised return. That is, where the money will come from and how probable it is that the entrepreneur's financial projections are reliable. Let us listen in as D'Artagnan and Planchet continue their discussion.

"In the first place, I shall set a ransom on him."

"Of how much?"

"_Peste!_ a fellow like that must be well worth a hundred thousand crowns."

"Yes, yes!"

"You see, then - in the first place, a ransom of a hundred thousand crowns."

"Or else - "

"Or else, what is much better, I deliver him up to King Charles, who, having no longer either a general or an army to fear, nor a diplomatist to trick him, will restore himself, and when once restored, will pay down to me the hundred thousand crowns in question. That is the idea I have formed; what do you say to it, Planchet?"

"Magnificent, monsieur!" cried Planchet, trembling with emotion..."

With the investor placated and the presentation at a conclusion, D'Artagnan wastes no time in proceeding to close the deal. Speed at this point is critical since an investor with too much time to think will only worry and dream up hypothetical problems that will only delay or, worse, scuttle the entrepreneur's careful preparations. This must not be allowed to happen.

"...Now, do you find the business good, and the investment advantageous?"

"Too much so - too much so."

"How can that be?"

"Because fine things never reach the expected point."

"This is infallible, Planchet, and the proof is that I undertake it. It will be for you a tolerably pretty gain, and for me a very interesting stroke. It will be said, 'Such was the old age of M. d'Artagnan,' and I shall hold a place in tales and even in history itself, Planchet. I am greedy of honor."

"Monsieur," cried Planchet, "when I think that it is here, in my home, in the midst of my sugar, my prunes, and my cinnamon, that this gigantic project is ripened, my shop seems a palace to me."

"Beware, beware, Planchet! If the least report of this escapes, there is the Bastile for both of us. Beware, my friend, for this is a plot we are hatching. M. Monk is the ally of M. Mazarin - beware!"

"Monsieur, when a man has had the honor to belong to you, he knows nothing of fear; and when he has had the advantage of being bound up in interests with you, he holds his tongue."

Mazarin is King Louis XIV's Prime Minister, who holds the true power of the realm and keeps the young king weak and isolated. D'Artagnan knows Mazarin well, and though he despises the man he does not underestimate his intelligence or his long arm. This venture requires stealth, in France as in England. Stealth mode is a common attribute of modern, innovative start-ups and was also clearly necessary in D'Artagnan's venture.

They were not so wedded to the idea of employing lawyers in the middle of the 17th-century, so there were no formal confidentiality agreements or NDAs, but D'Artagnan knew he could rely on his investor's discretion: they were both honourable men, and their word was as good as gold. All he had to do was make Planchet understand the need for discretion.

In our next installment, Planchet and D'Artagnan will incorporate the company, write up the elements of the term sheet, and tie it all up in a shareholders agreement.