[ WP ] Write the third episode of non-existant series . Make us curious about what happened before episode 3 , and what happens after .

`` I'm going to give you some advice, and do n't take this too seriously but shut up.'' 
 
 `` Seriously. Be fucking quiet and stop obsessing over every little thing and start listening to your sources.'' 
 
 This is the way Harlam talks. This guy is 6 foot 8, walks like he's the president, talks like he's the king, does n't pay for my drinks and does n't have time to floss. 
 
 We are sitting in Ralph's Diner, like we do about once a month, crammed in a shitty dim little booth, drinking craft beers in the middle of the day, ordering one of the best burgers in town. 
 
 `` Welcome to the good ole boys club amirite?'' I think to myself. 
 
 Harlam is coaching me. And for a guy who has never run a media company before, he's got lots of advice. Since our Editor, Shelby just quit, I'm getting the brunt of it. But I'm smart. I can do this. The business world wants to pretend to be complicated, but I have a secret power: I'm great at chess. Wow that seems lame. Ok my power is that I've been given access to interview some successful people. I'm really not selling this. My power is that I'm probably too stupid to understand that no one is actually that important unless they are curing cancer or breaking records and media needs a real revenue model instead of selling sad ads for psychics who need business. 
 
 `` Do you know how Mrs. Craft became the richest woman in Tennessee?'' Harlam asks, seemingly out of the blue. 
 
 `` It's 1999. Her company, Craft Books, figured out that they had a lawsuit to file. Lawsuits are n't just for assholes who want to shut down a company or bastards who send emails to scare you because they know you do n't have the money to face them in court. 
 
 Catherine Craft already ran an empire. 
 Craft Books was growing faster than ever, in part because Nashville is a publishing town. The internet was new and too fast, but Catherine was on it, and Craft Books was already one of the first major publishers to successfully digitize its records. 
 
 But somewhere in the Valley, another giant was awakening. This one was a publishing startup called Lire, and Lire had what Craft Books could n't afford. The ability to take huge risks early. 
 
 So Lire did something that the Valley has since perfected. They faked it. 
 
 Lire caught on to Craft Books, and a shit ton of other small publishers lack of knowledge about what the internet could potentially be, and soon enough, Lire had 100 times the content that Craft Books had. 
 
 So, Craft Books was ready to do what had to be done: put Lire on the floor. A Lawsuit for copyright infringement may have not taken Lire out if they only had to deal with Craft Books, but other companies who had partnered with Craft, or even associated themselves, would be tough for Lire to make it out alive. 
 
 `` Gentlemen, thank you for coming, and thank you for taking the time to fly here,'' Mrs. Craft began. 
 
 Six men and one woman sat around a large oak desk under dim lighting in an nonchalant office building on Music Row. 
 
 `` My attorney is passing out the paperwork. I'd like you to take a look at line fiv-'' 
 
 -'' Excuse me, Mrs. Craft,'' Ted Livingston, CEO of Lire interrupted. `` I'm confused. This is a term sheet. I thought Craft Books made it clear it was filing a lawsuit against us.'' 
 
 `` I changed my mind,'' she replied flatly. 
 
 `` I was sweating bullets on the plane,'' he says. `` Three of my attorneys quit... I've got investors wanting to pull out and two other lawsuit threats and you have the... the gall to personally look me in the face hand me a fucking term sheet?... Is this a joke?'' 
 
 `` Ted, this is now the second time you've interrupted me while I'm working,'' Mrs. Craft replied. `` I'm holding out a branch for you. We've got the upper hand in global publishing without the internet and as popular as you think you are, you wo n't make it past this. I see potential beyond publishing. We could end you right now. Read the term sheet. 
 
 I do n't want to sue Lire. I want to invest.'' 
 
 --'' she had every right to sue him BUT SHE INVESTS. How cool is that?'' Harlem asks rhetorically. 
 
 He continues `` Mr. Livingston, baffled, stutters into negotiation, but he's stuck. He needs the money. He has two other lawsuits. She won, but he runs it through his head a few times and she's ultimately right. It's the best way Lire can win too. 
 
 `` I'll have this to you by Monday,'' he said, but I have to know why? I mean it's not hard to find your own way of ultimately doing what I'm doing. Do n't you want Craft to be # 1 in publishing in the world? Do n't you want your company to win?'' 
 
 Mrs. Craft replied `` We ruled ourselves out. Craft is already behind. We need a quick way to get digital. You are doing our work for us. And Lire asked forgiveness instead of permission. We could use a little more of that around here.'' 
 
...'' 
 
 `` Forgiveness Greene,'' Harlam reiterated. `` I want you to ask forgiveness instead of permission.'' 
 
 `` Mrs. Craft was the heroine right? Not Mr. Livingston?'' I asked, ignoring his advice. `` Because my takeaway was n't forgiveness instead of permission, my takeaway was the power of putting ego aside to win.'' 
 
 Harlem replied, `` they are both heroes. Lire is still a company. It's worth 25 Billion dollars.'' 
 
 I thought Lire was n't profitable. But I did n't say that out loud. It was n't relevant. 
 
 We got our bill. I paid mine, and I set out to find a new story to send in for the next day's post. I felt another game of chess beginning. Perhaps Harlam was right. Forgiveness, not permission.
