If
they were having a Walter Matthau lookalike contest at the L station, maybe I
would go down there.
These
events seem finally, irredeemably, adult. But take heart: I think, given the
year we have all had—all of us, the whole country--it would be a good time for
those of us who are able to step back and thank God we are all lucky enough to
still be here in our chairs, with jobs and the chance to fight again tomorrow.
There were many times and many dark nights since 2003 when I simply could not
visualize how we were going to continue in business…but we did. It would make a
highly entertaining book, or essay in a group of them about people who’ve
started businesses and then can’t believe what they’ve gotten themselves into.
But once you’re in a crouching position, you have no choice but to run.
I
had always hoped that a company like Maclaren would be the one to buy us. I
admired them even when I didn’t know anything about anything in Baby--and as
significantly, I admired their SUCCESS. For me, being bought by Maclaren is
like a financial company being bought by Warren Buffett: added to the price,
there is the imprimatur of the most respected guys out there recognizing what
YOU have done and perceiving value in it. And that has no price. I’m not sure
how many real options there were for Netto to get married, but I cannot tell
you how proud I am that we did to who we did.
Maclaren
and Netto will do great things together. They have paid me the compliment of
asking me to design for them—what I didn’t tell them was, I’d have paid them to
let me do it. The prospect of doing what I have been doing for a company with
their stature and ability to promote and distribute will be quite a difference
from the last five years. Looking forward to that is a good feeling. If anybody
ever told you what you’d be going through when you start a business, you either
wouldn’t believe them, or you wouldn’t do it—I’m very lucky that it ended this
way. Because now, we can really begin.
Appropriately,
my beautiful wife Elizabeth bought me a motorcycle for my birthday, even though
in contrast to appearances it was an impulse purchase and not planned to combat
the conventional midlife crisis. I love this bike, even though I can’t ride it
yet. It symbolizes all the possibilities of the future, all the places we will
yet go.
Maybe
I’ll ride it out to Williamsburg —with a helmet on, nobody can tell how old you are.
David Netto
New York, 2009
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