52 Entrepreneurship Part 7: Negotiation

This episode is about negotiation for entrepreneurs. Some basic practical tips are provided about negotiating, such as:

• The benefits of writing everything down (even though it seems obvious)
• Why it's better to be explicit about how you want do business, such as with a simple set of standard terms
• Negotiating about all the terms and avoiding the pitfall of focussing narrowly on price

Some of the deeper principles underlying negotiation are also explained, such as:

• The concept of your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) and how it determines the dynamic of the negotiation
• The value of appealing to objective standards and avoiding a "contest of wills"
• Why win-win negotiations are the only way to get any lasting agreement that will work
• Why it makes sense to adopt the premise that you'll never be able to rely on enforcing legal contracts

The excellent book on negotiation recommended in the podcast is "Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In" by Fischer and Ury.