I'm The King of Business & Technology in the Modern World

Matthew grinned as he read the message, feeling the weight of anticipation settling over him. He immediately texted Saimon and Leo in their group chat.

Matthew: "It's confirmed. 10 AM tomorrow. Facebook wants to meet with me and their entire security team."

Saimon was the first to reply.

Saimon: "Bro, this is it. You're talking to a tech giant tomorrow. Let's gooo!"

Leo chimed in shortly after.

Leo: "Damn! You ready? Need anything from us?"

Matthew: "Yeah, I'll need you guys at the office. Let's run through a full practice pitch today."

Later that morning, – In the office they had rented.

Matthew paced the office floor while Saimon and Leo sat at their desks, reviewing their notes. On a large monitor, Matthew had outlined the key points for the presentation:

[Software Overview:

Core features: real-time anomaly detection, adaptive firewalls, quantum-resistant encryption.

Proof of Performance: Initial results from Facebook's trial environment.

Scalability and Integration: How the software could grow with Facebook's infrastructure.

Long-Term Benefits: Cost savings from preventing major data breaches. And improved user trust through enhanced privacy protection.

"Alright, let's do a dry run," Matthew announced, stepping in front of the monitor like he was already addressing Facebook's executive team. "Imagine you're Nathan Caldwell. I'm walking you through this as if it's the real meeting."

Leo leaned back in his chair. "Got it. I'm gonna be the tough question guy."

Saimon smirked. "And I'll be the skeptical engineer who doesn't trust anything new."

"And we don't know what to ask you because you were the one who entirely wrote the code. So we are just a representation of what you might encounter in the meeting. Sorry can't help you," Leo added.

Matthew chuckled at Leo's remark. "No worries. You guys already helped me when you assumed your roles. Certainly, there will be people like that on Facebook. I am getting nervous…this is Facebook afterall."

"How about you calm down and chill? You still have time anyway to review," Saimon suggested.

"You are right, I will do that," Matthew replied, doing what they suggested.

***

9:50 AM PST.

Matthew sat at his desk, reviewing his notes one last time. His laptop camera was positioned perfectly, and the room lighting was adjusted to ensure he looked professional. He was dressed in a smart, dark-blue collared shirt with neatly combed hair. Saimon and Leo stood by, offering silent support.

"Alright," Matthew whispered to himself. "Let's do this."

At 9:55 AM, the meeting notification appeared on his screen. He clicked to join and was greeted by a virtual conference room filled with nearly a dozen participants. Nathan Caldwell appeared on the main screen, his face calm but focused. He was joined by senior members of Facebook's cybersecurity, infrastructure, and AI divisions.

Nathan greeted him with a firm yet friendly tone. "Good morning, Mr. Borja. Thank you for making time to meet with us. I've assembled our key security leads to hear more about your technology."

"Good morning, Mr. Caldwell. I appreciate the opportunity to present today," Matthew replied.

"So let's start with your profile. According to our background check, you are a newly-graduate mechanical engineering student at the Institute of Technology of the Philippines. Explain to us how a mechanical engineering student came up with such complex software that would make even the best cybersecurity solutions on the market seem outdated."

Matthew took a breath, keeping his composure. "I understand how unusual my background may seem. While I studied mechanical engineering, I've always had a strong interest in coding and system architecture. Over the past few years, I dedicated myself to researching both AI and cybersecurity on my own. This software is the result of extensive experimentation, late nights, and trial-and-error."

Nathan nodded, though his expression remained skeptical. "And the core algorithms? They're highly advanced. Can you walk us through the original design? What inspired it?"

Matthew leaned forward slightly. "The design was built with scalability and proactivity in mind. I realized that many cybersecurity systems today are reactive—they rely on static datasets and predefined attack signatures. The core of my system, however, uses dynamic anomaly detection based on live traffic patterns. The inspiration came from observing how immune systems adapt to new threats in real-time. I wanted to replicate that adaptability within a digital environment."

Another engineer, Dr. Evelyn Zhang, chimed in. "Interesting analogy. But can you elaborate on your encryption system? Quantum-resistant encryption is still under heavy research. Are you utilizing lattice-based methods?"

Matthew gave a measured nod. "Yes, but with modifications. My encryption protocol combines lattice cryptography with hybrid key exchanges to prevent vulnerabilities in either algorithm. The system prioritizes key distribution security and operates on quantum-proof hash functions. This ensures that even if quantum computing advances in the next decade, the data integrity will remain intact."

The room went quiet for a moment. Evelyn exchanged glances with some of her colleagues before speaking again. "You've clearly thought this through. But there's something that needs to be addressed—proprietary ownership. This is cutting-edge technology, which raises a question: are you the sole creator? Or is this the work of an undisclosed organization or individual who handed you the software?"

Nathan leaned in. "We need full transparency here, Matthew. Are you the proprietary owner, or is there someone else behind the scenes?"

"I can assure you, I am the sole owner and creator of this software. No external organization handed it to me. Every line of code, every framework, and every feature was developed by me."

Nathan's gaze didn't waver. "So you're telling us you built this entirely from scratch without support?"

"Yes," Matthew replied firmly. "While I had access to publicly available research papers, development environments, and open-source models, the system itself is proprietary and my intellectual property."

The Head of AI Security, Marcus Hayes, chimed in with a smirk. "If that's true, let's get technical. I want details on how your real-time anomaly detection engine processes data in high-traffic environments without lag."

Matthew adjusted his position, ready for the challenge. "The detection engine employs an event-driven architecture. Instead of sequential processing, it uses parallel streams to break incoming data into manageable segments. These segments are processed independently by a cluster of nodes using Apache Kafka for real-time messaging and TensorFlow for adaptive learning. Each node cross-references traffic behavior, and a consensus model determines whether an alert should be flagged."

Marcus blinked, clearly impressed but unwilling to show it. "Alright. But how does it prevent overfitting? Machine learning models are notorious for that."

"I've integrated both regularization techniques and dynamic retraining. The model doesn't rely entirely on static datasets; it periodically validates against clean datasets to recalibrate thresholds. Additionally, I use a reinforcement learning component that rewards the system when it correctly identifies a threat without false positives," Matthew explained, keeping his tone clear and confident.

Nathan leaned back slightly, finally looking less skeptical. "Well, you certainly know your technology. I had to ask the hard questions, given the stakes. But I'll be honest—your answers checked out, and the results we saw don't lie."

Dr. Evelyn Zhang spoke again. "You've built something extraordinary, Matthew. But you'll need a strong legal framework to protect this technology. Companies like ours take intellectual property rights seriously, and any potential partnership would require exclusivity negotiations."

Matthew nodded. "Of course. I understand the importance of proper IP protection, and I'm prepared to work with legal experts on this."

Nathan tapped his fingers on the table, thoughtful. "We'll continue our internal review, but I'm optimistic. Pending further testing, I'd like to arrange another meeting next week to discuss potential contract terms."

"You mean you are interested in my technology and you are willing to spend some dollars on it?" Matthew asked.

"That is certainly what we are talking about, Matthew," Nathan replied. "How much do you think your technology is worth?"

Matthew leaned back slightly, a serious expression settling over his face. He knew this was a pivotal moment. The value of his technology was immense—Facebook had already seen how advanced it was. Now it was time to put a price on that innovation, but he also needed to be realistic and strategic. He didn't want to scare them off with an outrageous figure, but he also couldn't undervalue the potential it held.

"Given the performance improvements you've witnessed and the fact that this technology can prevent breaches that cost companies billions, I believe it's reasonable to value the software at $250 million."

The virtual room went silent for a moment. Nathan raised an eyebrow, but he didn't look surprised. Instead, he exchanged glances with Dr. Zhang and Marcus Hayes, silently gauging their reactions.

"That's your selling price?"

Matthew shook his head. "It's the price tag but I'm not going to sell it to you, I am offering you a subscription."

"Subscription, huh? Interesting approach. Most companies would try to lock in a buyout or long-term licensing agreement. Why a subscription?"

Matthew smiled confidently. "The reality is that cybersecurity threats evolve rapidly. A one-time sale or static license wouldn't serve you well because the software would eventually become outdated. By offering a subscription model, I can ensure Facebook stays ahead of emerging threats. You'll have access to continuous updates, optimizations, and technical support. It's a win-win—ongoing protection for you, ongoing development from us. Not only that, it will not be your only company benefitting, there will be others, as I am planning on pitching them the software too."

Nathan nodded thoughtfully. "Alright. So what's the subscription price? And what are the terms?"

Matthew took a deep breath and laid it out. "For a corporation the size of Facebook, I'm proposing $2.5 million per month. This includes the core features you've already tested, regular system updates, round-the-clock support, and proactive vulnerability assessments."

The room went quiet again. Marcus Hayes let out a low whistle. "Two and a half million a month is… ambitious."

Nathan raised a hand. "Hold on. Let's put this in perspective. Matthew, you're aware that Facebook lost approximately $540 million from its 2019 data breach—not just in fines and settlements, but also damage to reputation, lawsuits, and lost business?"

"Exactly," Matthew replied. "And that's just one incident. With the right protection, those kinds of losses can be prevented entirely. In the long run, a subscription of $2.5 million a month—$30 million a year—is a small price to pay for peace of mind, not to mention improved user trust and regulatory compliance."

Dr. Zhang leaned in, her expression intrigued. "So, the subscription includes updates, fine. But what guarantees can you offer in terms of system uptime and threat response times? We need to know you can deliver without disrupting critical services."

"Good question," Matthew said. "We operate under a 99.99% uptime SLA (Service Level Agreement), and our anomaly detection engine is designed to respond to threats within milliseconds. For emergency situations, my team can deploy updates or patches remotely in under an hour."

Nathan folded his arms, considering the offer. "Alright, you've clearly thought this through. Let's say we agree to the price and terms. What's your capacity for scaling this service? Facebook handles billions of users and petabytes of data every day. Can your system handle that volume?"

"Absolutely," Matthew replied without hesitation. "Our backend is built on a distributed architecture, designed to scale horizontally. We utilize Kubernetes for container orchestration, allowing us to deploy and manage services across multiple data centers. For machine learning workloads, we integrate with cloud-based GPUs and TPUs for real-time processing. The more traffic you generate, the more nodes the system spins up automatically."

"That's… impressive," Marcus admitted, albeit reluctantly.

Nathan exchanged glances with the rest of the team. "Alright, Matthew. You've made a strong case. Here's what we'll do. We'll draft an initial agreement outlining the terms you've presented. Our legal and procurement teams will handle the formalities, but I'd like you to submit that roadmap you mentioned earlier—detailing future development, scaling plans, and any additional features you foresee."

"Of course," Matthew said. "I'll have that ready within the next two days."

Nathan leaned back in his chair, smiling for the first time. "You've got talent, Matthew. If everything checks out, this partnership could be a game-changer. I'll expect to hear from you soon."

"Thank you, Mr. Caldwell. I look forward to working with you and your team."

The call ended, and the screen went dark. Matthew exhaled deeply, finally allowing himself to relax.

Leo slapped him on the back with a grin. "Dude! Two-point-five million a month?! You just pitched that to Facebook like it was pocket change!"

Saimon laughed. "And they didn't even flinch! This is huge, Matt!"

"I know," Matthew smiled. "Now I have work to do."