In this episode, Patrick McKenzie (patio11) revisits his widely-shared negotiation essay, which he notes may be the most impactful thing he's done in his career aside from VaccinateCA. The essay covers the psychology and tactics of salary negotiation, emphasizing that engineers have turned being bad at negotiation into a "perverse badge of virtue" and that the financial stakes are enormous—a small salary increase compounds over decades to six-figure differences. Patrick walks through practical advice including never giving a number first, understanding how employers actually think about compensation costs, and reframing negotiation as a professional business discussion rather than something morally questionable.
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Full transcript available here:
www.complexsystemspodcast.com/how-to-negotiate-your-salary-package/
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Sponsor: Mercury
This episode is brought to you by Mercury, the fintech trusted by 200K+ companies — from first milestones to running complex systems. Mercury offers banking that truly understands startups and scales with them. Start today at Mercury.com
Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC.
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Recommended in this episode:
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Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(03:25) Why negotiation matters
(05:21) Shifting your mindset to embrace negotiation
(06:49) Your counterparty does not share your mental model of negotiation
(12:46) Your negotiation started before you applied to this job
(17:21) When does a salary negotiation happen?
(19:38) Sponsor: Mercury
(23:16) The first rule is what everyone tells you it is: never give a number first
(28:45) Listen to what people tell you. Repeat it back to them.
(33:22) Research, research, research
(37:13) New information is valuable and can be traded for things you want
(41:20) You have a multi-dimensional preference set. Use it.
(44:08:) For your further perusal
