#262 Herbie Cohen (World's Greatest Negotiator)

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Aug 11, 2022

Dive into the art of negotiation with a legendary figure who turns life into a game of strategy. Discover how understanding others' motivations can shift a 'no' into a 'yes.' Enjoy stories from a distinguished career, illustrating that resilience and persistence are key to success. Explore profound discussions on life's meaning and the wisdom that age brings while navigating familial relationships. From car deals to philosophical insights, every anecdote reveals how the essence of negotiation intertwines with everyday life.

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ANECDOTE

First Negotiation Lesson

David Senra's dad used a car purchase as his first negotiation lesson, emphasizing the "how" over the "what".
The car's appearance, covered in names, indicated a previous owner's lack of care, a key factor in negotiation.

ANECDOTE

Aggressive Driving Lesson

Herbie Cohen taught Rich to drive aggressively, instructing him to jump a green light at Wrigley Field.
Rich froze, snarling traffic, leading Herbie to admit overestimating his son's abilities.

INSIGHT

Perceived Power

Nine-year-old Herbie demonstrated authority by stopping traffic as a crossing guard.
He concluded that people obey authority, even a child in an orange sash, highlighting perceived power.

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Steve Jobs

Walter Isaacson

This biography, based on more than 40 interviews with Steve Jobs and over 100 interviews with family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues, provides a riveting story of Jobs' roller-coaster life and intense personality. It highlights his passion for perfection, his ferocious drive, and how he revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. The book explores Jobs' contradictions, his 'reality distortion field,' and the lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values that can be drawn from his life and career.

The fish that ate the whale

The Life and Times of America's Banana King

Rich Cohen

This book tells the fascinating story of Samuel Zemurray, who started as a roadside banana peddler and eventually built a sprawling empire involving banana cowboys, mercenary soldiers, Honduran peasants, CIA agents, and American statesmen. Rich Cohen's narrative explores Zemurray's rise to power, his involvement in overthrowing Central American governments, and his complex role in American history. The book delves into Zemurray's personal life, his business exploits, and the moral implications of his actions, painting a nuanced portrait of a man driven by an indomitable will to succeed.

The Adventures of Herbie Cohen

World's Greatest Negotiator

Rich Cohen

The Adventures of Herbie Cohen is a heartfelt and humorous biography by Rich Cohen, detailing his father's life as a negotiator, dealmaker, and raconteur. The book follows Herbie from his youth in Brooklyn, where he befriended figures like Larry King, to his later years as a consultant to presidents and corporations. It offers a mix of tall tales, wisdom, and insights into negotiation and life.

Invention

A Life

James Dyson

This book tells the story of James Dyson's life, highlighting his numerous inventions and the challenges he faced in bringing them to market. It covers his early life, his education, and his development of various products, including the ballbarrow and the Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaner. The book emphasizes the importance of education, mentorship, self-reliance, and the critical role of engineers and scientists in society. It also reflects on Dyson's experiences with business partners, the British innovation environment, and his perseverance in the face of numerous obstacles[1][3][4].

Francis Ford Coppola

A Filmmaker's Life

Michael Schumacher

This book provides a detailed account of Francis Ford Coppola's life and career, covering his early years, his apprenticeship under Roger Corman, and his direction of iconic films such as the Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation. It explores his successes and failures, including the challenges faced during the filming of Apocalypse Now and the impact of personal crises on his work. The biography is based on extensive access to Coppola's friends, critics, peers, casts, and crews, offering a complete picture of this complex and conflicted cinematic genius.

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor Frankl

The book is divided into two parts. The first part recounts Frankl's harrowing experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, between 1942 and 1945. He describes the inhumane conditions and the psychological and emotional struggles of the prisoners. The second part introduces Frankl's theory of logotherapy, which posits that the primary human drive is the search for meaning, rather than pleasure. Frankl argues that meaning can be found through three main avenues: work (doing something significant), love (caring for another), and suffering (finding meaning in one's own suffering). The book emphasizes the importance of finding purpose and meaning in life, even in the most adverse conditions, as a key factor in survival and personal growth.

How Brands Grow

What Marketers Don't Know

Jenni Romaniuk

Byron Sharp

This book challenges traditional marketing theories by presenting evidence-based laws for brand growth. It argues that brands should focus on increasing mental and physical availability rather than trying to establish intimate emotional connections or differentiate themselves substantively. The authors, Byron Sharp and Jenni Romaniuk, use scientific analysis to show that effective marketing makes brand choice less cognitively onerous by building and refreshing memory structures and ensuring wide distribution networks and prominent in-store positioning.

Negotiate Anything

Kwame Christian

What I learned from reading The Adventures of Herbie Cohen: World's Greatest Negotiator by Rich Cohen.

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[1:20] The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King by Rich Cohen (Founders #255)

[2:42] You Can Negotiate Anything: How to Get What You Want by Herb Cohen.

[3:57] Even our heroes falter.

[6:01] Once you see your life as a game, and the things you strive for as no more than pieces in that game, you'll become a much more effective player.

[7:20] He was proving what would become a lifelong principle: Most people are schmucks and will obey any type of authority.

[7:34] Power is based on perception; if you think you got it, you got it, even if you don't got it.

[7:54] Nolan Bushnell to a young Steve Jobs: “I taught him that if you act like you can do something, then it will work. I told him, ‘Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are.” from Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson. (Founders #214)

[10:30] Life is a game and to win you must consider other people as players with as much at stake as yourself. If you understand their motivations, you can control the action and free yourself from every variety of jam. Focus less on yourself and more on others. Everyone has something at stake. If you address that predicament you can move anyone from no to yes.

[14:01] Those who can live with ambiguity and still function do the best.

[14:21] Ambiguity is the constant companion of the entrepreneur.

[15:26] Don't bitch. Don't complain. Just play the cards that you've been dealt.

[20:12] Most people try to blend in. Herbie went the other way. When they zig, I zag.

[21:49] It meant Sharon had failed to understand an essential part of an ancient code. If you have a problem with your brother, you deal with it inside the family. Don't rat. Don't turn your brother in to the cops. It was another one of his big lessons. Loyalty. Without that you have nothing.

[27:03] Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl

[30:11] When it comes to negotiating you'd be better off acting like you know less, not more.

[32:18] How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't Know by Byron Sharp

[35:56] He believed it was good, possibly very good, and it was this belief, which never wavered, that would give him the confidence to persist despite the rejections that were coming.

Quoting Harry Truman, he'd say, "I make a decision once."

And he'd made his decision about the book. In case of rejection, the only thing that would change was his opinion of the publishing house.

[37:01] It took 18 no's to get to a yes.

[37:37] Herbie sells his book by hand. This part is incredible.

[40:36] Back in Bensonhurst we were seeing my father as he'd been before he was our father. As he was still deep down when we weren't looking.

[43:50] I told him I did not want something to fall back on because people who have something to fall back on usually end up "falling back on it.

[47:34] You can always understand the son by the story of his father. The story of the father is embedded in the son. —Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life by Michael Schumacher (Founders #242)

That was the last time I saw him. His brave cheerfulness chokes me every time I recall the scene. It is impossible to imagine my father's emotions as he waved goodbye knowing that he might be on his way to London to die. Sixty years have not softened these memories, nor the sadness that he missed enjoying his three children growing up.

I felt the devastating loss of my dad, his love, his humor, and the things he taught me. I feared for a future without him.

— Invention: A Life by James Dyson (Founders #205)

[52:48] Even our heroes falter.

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