The Cost Of Success

is first successful pitch to be euphoric-a celebration of high-fives and champagne. Instead, the sil

ore so. Every word he had spoken in that glass-walled conference room would now be held against him if

ence. "So, we've got $450,000

a hand through his hair. "But it's also terrifying. What if I

o the road. "Then we fix it. That's what we do, Alex. We solv

e sense of impending pressure. The investors weren't paying him t

set the prototype on his cluttered workbench and stared at it like it held all the answers to hi

one down beside him and leaned against the edge of the table. "

ut it's not intuitive enough for everyday users. Then there's the AI-it's learning, but it still makes weird sugge

e step at a time. Let's focus on the prototype

r level-headedness. "You'r

ex outlined the technical improvements he wanted to make, while Jessica focused on logistics-

in the workshop was covered in scribbles, diagrams,

, spending long hours tweaking algorithms and testing hardware components. Jessica, meanwhile, t

selves. Every small victory-whether it was optimizing the AI's decision-making pr

ive algorithm, which was supposed to analyze user behavior and make tailored suggestions, ke

shut and buried his face in his hand

her own work across t

"It's not learning the way it's supposed

e a break," she said gently. "You've been at this for hours

stood up and stretched, his muscles protesting from hours of sitt

d firmly. "We're problem-solvers

ght when he stumbled upon a solution. By integrating a feedback loop that allowed the AI to adjus

t the updated prototype. "Okay, watch

etical schedules and tasks. The AI responded quickly and accurately, offe

sica said, her eyes light

ing a surge of p

ilot program. Jessica reached out to a network of professionals who agreed to te

users found the device too complex, while others wanted additional features. Alex

bloggers wrote glowing reviews, calling it "the next big thing in personal

began to feel like his dr

est user feedback, she turned to him with a serio

owned.

will want to see results soon, and we've got the

f putting Optimis out into the world was both thrilling and terrifying.

d, his voice stea

fectious. "I'll start putting tog

ea

great. Don't

his hands. For the first time in weeks, he allowed himself a moment of

to be more than a dreamer.