Three Founders
三人の創業者
The next afternoon, Maya met Ken in a quiet corner of the library.
Ken had studied computer science and had built several small apps before.
He listened carefully while Maya explained her idea about wasted food.
"So shops share their surplus, and hungry people collect it for free?" he asked.
At first Ken was not sure that such an app could really work.
But he was persuaded by Maya's passion and the simple beauty of the plan.
"I want to build something that matters," he said. "I'm in."
Within a week, the two of them agreed to build a working .
However, they soon realized that they needed a third kind of .
Neither Maya nor Ken knew how to talk to shop owners or investors.
"We can code and dream, but somebody must sell the idea," Ken admitted.
Maya immediately thought of Rio, a student from her marketing class.
Rio had always been the person who could make strangers smile and listen.
They invited Rio to a small café and explained the whole project.
Rio was excited, but she also asked several sharp and honest questions.
"How will you make money if the food is always given away for free?"
The two founders looked at each other, unsure how to answer her.
"We don't know yet," Maya said honestly, "but we'll find a way together."
Rio was quiet for a long moment, thinking about the and the .
Then she smiled and agreed to join them as the third .
"I was persuaded by one thing," she said. "You two really believe this."
That evening, three very different students shook hands over a small table.
Maya would lead the , Ken would write the code, and Rio would speak.
None of them was paid, and none of them knew what lay ahead.
But for the first time, "Table for Ten Thousand" had a real team.
Now they had to prove that their idea could the real world.