Met up with a director at Borland Singapore today, to discuss a project tender, and the services that I can provide to Borland.

I mentioned that a project of which I was the core developer in the past has come up for tender. The project was developed in Delphi, among others.

I had always wanted to work with Borland, so since Borland was the company that developed Delphi, the project tender gave me the opportunity to present myself as a Delphi architect familiar with the project, and I approached Borland Singapore to sell them my services.

The director has asked for exclusivity in presenting my services to any vendor that would win the project, so in a way, no matter which vendor won the project, Borland would not be just selling products. Borland would be packaging me as part of the deal.

Prior to my approaching them, I do not know if Borland Singapore was aware that the project tender was up. So, in a way, I am now brokering a deal with Borland and the many vendors that would be bidding for the project.

The director has instructed me to approach various parties to see how Borland and myself can do the project together. In addition, the director has asked me to gather certain business information. On one hand, I am concerned that I may be violating some trade and industry secrets. Oh, wait! It's only a system performance question. So, no violation of trade or industry secrets. On the other hand, this deal, if it goes through, would guarantee me work for the next few years.

I have also provided the director with the phone number of a developer in the project. Since I am the only link between the current developers and any tender bidders, the thought had occured to me that suddenly, I have plenty of open opportunities to make money.

With the tender being awarded a few months from now, it would be a challenging task at this time for me to find deals that would last only for that duration.

My other concern would be that, since everything has been agreed verbally, there is a risk, however small, that the director may cut me off the final deal.