The document describes how the author, while celebrating an award in a Phoenix bar in 1991, sketched out ideas for three companies - Aircell, Eloqua, and Ariba - on cocktail napkins for three men at the bar. Years later, she discovered that those exact companies had been created. She went on to work for Aircell and Ariba, installing Eloqua at both. The author now wants recognition and compensation for her role in conceiving the initial ideas that led to the creation of the three major companies.

1. My Story
creating Aircell,
Eloqua and
Ariba for Media
Nicole Seibert
October 2013

2. Tell me about how you
created Aircell, Eloqua and
Ariba.
In the spring of 1991 I won an award. The company sent me to Phoenix to collect my award. On the last
night to celebrate I went to have a drink in a bar. I am younger than I am supposed to be but not by
much and so I am nervous. The bartender didn‟t seem to notice. I order a cosmos; it was the first time I
had ordered an alcoholic beverage on my own. I barely looked around.
I felt excited too. I was traveling on my own for the first time in my life. Growing up in rural Georgia going
thirty minutes to the mall was a “long” way. Where I grew up there were still people who rode to town in a
horse and buggy. We only went to the mall twice a year. When we did travel long distances it was to see
family in Baton Rouge, Louisville or Chicago. I got to fly on a plane by myself to Phoenix. I look out the
large picture windows over the top of the bar and see tan… tan sand as far as the eye can see. I miss the
green leafy mountains of Georgia. I feel the loss in my soul and my brain never seems to get over it.
After a couple of sips, I look around convince myself I can command even this space. Plucky courage.
False, but helpful. The bar is rectangular all wood with brass inlays and wine globe hang all the way
around. Bottles line the shelves in the center island. The waiters are dressed in black and white formal.
Everyone is dressed to the nines. There were 100s of people in the bar, but I am still in my skirt and heels.
Everyone is much older than I am in their mid-forties. Women laugh full-mouthed at men with big bellies
who sit in front of them without getting up to push in their chair. I feel every bit of my natural dish-water
blonde hair and no gold.
How do people even make conversation in these situations? There are three men at the end of the bar.
The one closest to me is older with gray hair and glasses… the shortest. And he is talking with two of his
protégés - all suites. They are talking about internet on planes. The older one questions the other two, but
how can it be done? They don‟t know. It is inevitable that we use satellites.
I plunk up, “No, build it air-to-ground.”
The old one looks at me only slightly taken aback. “How?” he asks.
All eyes on me, I say, “Point the satellites up so that the signals crosses and eventually you will have a
continuous signal.” Wrists held tight, palms facing, fingertips pointing to the sky I form a “V.”

3. Tell me about how you
created Aircell, Eloqua and
Ariba.
They don‟t understand.
I ask the bartender for something to draw with a grab a cocktail napkin. I draw two towers on hills with the
satellites point straight up. Then I draw the signal coming up for the satellites in a cone with the signal
overlapping in the sky. [insert drawing.]
The older one asks me, “What do you want to call it?”
I look away faux sagely and contemplate, but come up nothing really. I don‟t expect this, but it does tell
me they are listening and they will build it. I settle on unearth-shattering, “AirCell.” I write the name on the
corner of the cocktail napkin to remind them and hand the cocktail napkin to him.
We introduce ourselves to each other. I don‟t remember their names. Then cute one asked me, “What
else would you build?”
“We need to automate marketing. We need something to track and send emails, to track potential
clients on our websites. We need an easy way to build quick websites. Right now it takes too long. We
need a database on the back end to store data. That way we can rate people who visit our websites.”
The cute one asks, “What kind of database?”
I pick up another cocktail napkin and say, “You only need three tables: contact, company and one
more… like a lookup table.”
“How would you link the tables?” the cute one asks incredulous.
Pert, I reply, “Email address.”
I draw a rough sketch of what the database would look like along with keys for each table. They look
amazed and I smile knowing that what I am saying has real value.
“What do you want to call it?”
In a flash… I‟m being eloquent. So I shorten it… eloqu and add an „a‟. “Call it Eloqua.”

4. Tell me about how you
created Aircell, Eloqua and
Ariba.
“How did you come up with that name?”
I shrug. I don‟t want to sound egotistical. “It‟s French.” And etymologically, it is Old French. If they didn‟t
understand that pointing satellites up would result in a continuous wi-fi signal then going through my
thinking process here would take too long.
I rush to get out, because this is important, “You need to build this in the cloud. And use 5th generation
programming, because Marketers don‟t want to learn how to program.”
Blatant and needful, “What else should we build?” comes from the tallest one, glasses, brown hair.
I scrutinize the rows and rows of wine glasses and remember another concept I am mulling. “We need a
way for companies to bid on, pay for and manage contracts in one piece of software. We need the entire
back end built into companies in one piece of software. It needs to be built in the cloud too….”
Eyes wide, “What would you call it?”
I can‟t think of anything. But then a waiter walks behind me carrying a drink tray on one hand next to his
head and say, “Ándale.” And I immediately thought, “Ariba.” One the third cocktail napkin I write
nothing but the name, double underlined, diamond-bottomed exclamation point. Tall one pockets the
cocktail napkin quick as a wink with eyes taking up half his face unblinking.
I smile and smile. I know they will build them; They are hooked. I order a second cosmo and tipsy on heels
we walk a little around the bar. I watch people and now have little to say thinking maybe I am too bold,
overly confident. I get the kind of quiet that wishes I hadn‟t said anything. I want to build Eloqua myself.
But they continue to follow me. I have to get back to the hotel.
As I contemplate leaving and walking around with three men in tow… I see another drawing caricature.
The older one watches me smiling at his drawing. “Do you want one?”
“Yes.”

5. Did you know that they would
build the companies?
I had a good idea that they would build the
companies, but I wasn‟t sure until 9-11 that at least
Aircell would be built. If they had built Aircell when I told
them to in 1991 then 9-11 wouldn‟t have happen the
way it did. If you recall the there was one plane that
didn‟t hit its target. One man called his wife on that
plane to tell his wife that he loved her. Once she told
him that 3 other planes had crashed into buildings he
organized other passengers to retake the plane. It still
crashed, but not into the White House. If internet had
been on planes then maybe only one would have
crashed into a building before the other planes would
have been diverted from their intended target and
taken back from terrorists by a citizen brigade.

6. When did you first become
aware they had built the
companies?
When I was interviewed for the job at Aircell in
2007. I knew Eloqua was being built when I
started looking for a marketing automation tool
and put Eloqua in at Aircell also in 2007. After I
left Aircell, I was interviewed and hired at Ariba
to install Eloqua in 2010.

7. Why haven‟t you come
forward before this?
I didn‟t feel safe. I didn‟t think people would
believe me. Most people don‟t believe. It is all
true though. Now of course their ability to mess
with my life is complete since they have
interviewed and hired me at two of the
companies, Aircell and Ariba, and worked to
install the third, Eloqua, at both. No one would
believe this story and I can‟t blame them. It
seems so farfetched as to be ridiculous.

8. Why haven‟t you come
forward before this?
It was a very difficult decision to go to work at Aircell. Part of me
hoped that it was a coincidence that they were building the system I
designed and just happened to name the company the same as I
wrote on that cocktail napkin. I willfully stuck my head in the sand. It
was vitally important after 9-11 that I work at Aircell. I thought of the
people jumping for the buildings rather than die in the fire 124 floor up;
My heart won out. I thought Aircell was going to protect so many
people. I thought it would help people so much. 9-11 would never
happen again on American soil so I just had to work there. And then I
saw my cocktail napkin and I knew they knew. I felt watched. I felt my
personal space was invaded. How long had they kept track of me?
Why didn‟t they just approach me? They obviously had more power
and influence than I did. And no one was going to believe me. I
stayed scared and kept my head down. It wasn‟t built to protect me
though.

9. What do you want to happen
now?
I want the recognition and money I deserve.
The longer this goes on the madder I get. After
getting hired at Ariba to deploy Eloqua I knew
for a fact they knew who I am. They were
playing with me. They were/are just fucking with
my life. I‟m tired of being scared. I‟m tired of
feeling like there is no justice in the world. I have
other things to build. I created these three
companies in one single night. Imagine what I
could do if I had the money I deserved and
could continue to build.