What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Getting to Yes
Running a business means negotiating constantly and often alone — with a co-founder over equity, a supplier over terms, an investor over a term sheet, a first hire over salary. There's no HR department to mediate and no script to follow, so it's easy to either avoid the hard conversation until it festers or come in swinging because the stakes feel personal. Getting to Yes offers a way to hold your ground on the business without torching the relationships the business runs on.
The whole book, compressed
This edition works through 4 core lessons — take them one at a time, not all at once.
What's different for your conditions
Tap whichever ones sound like you. Nothing here is sent or saved — it's just for your own noticing.
0 of 5 selected
The core lessons, applied to you
Keep the founder relationship separate from the deal terms
When you're negotiating with a co-founder or long-term partner, it's tempting to treat every disagreement about terms as a referendum on the relationship itself. Separating the two lets you disagree hard on substance without either person feeling like their commitment is in question.
Two co-founders are splitting equity for a new venture. One wants a bigger share because they're contributing the initial idea; the other feels equally entitled because they're leaving a stable job to work full-time. The equity conversation turns into an unspoken argument about who cares more about the company, and both walk away avoiding the topic entirely rather than resolve it.
Before any high-stakes internal negotiation, say out loud (or write down) what you appreciate about working with this person, separately from what you're asking for. Then address the terms as a shared problem to solve, not a scorecard of who's more committed.
Ask what's actually driving the demand, not just the number
A supplier's price, an investor's valuation cap, a hire's salary ask — each is a position standing in for something the other side actually needs. Finding that underlying interest usually opens up more workable trades than negotiating the number alone.
A founder is negotiating payment terms with a manufacturing supplier who insists on 50% upfront. The founder assumes the supplier just wants cash and either fights the number or caves entirely, missing that the supplier is actually worried about getting stuck with custom inventory if the order is canceled — a concern a cancellation policy could solve more cheaply than cash up front.
In your next vendor or hiring negotiation, ask directly: "Help me understand what matters most to you here — is it the amount, the timing, or something else?" Then look for a solution that addresses that, not just the headline figure.
Generate more than one version of the deal before picking one
Most first offers are just the first idea anyone had. Before agreeing or countering, put a few different shapes of the deal on the table — different mixes of cash, equity, timing, or scope — so you're choosing from options rather than negotiating a single number up or down.
A candidate asks for a salary above what the startup's budget allows. The founder either says no and loses the candidate, or says yes and blows the budget, because the conversation stayed locked on the one number instead of exploring a signing bonus, a title change, equity, or a faster review cycle.
Before your next negotiation, sketch three different packages that could satisfy both sides — even ones you don't expect to use. Bring the menu to the table instead of the single figure.
Anchor high-stakes terms to something outside either person's opinion
Where possible, tie contested terms — valuation, pricing, equity splits — to external reference points: market comps, industry benchmarks, standard templates, or a neutral formula agreed on in advance. It moves the conversation from who blinks first to what's fair by an outside measure.
Protecting the relationship with a co-founder or early hire can tempt you to skip the interest-finding step and just split the difference to keep the peace — but a quick peace bought by ignoring real interests tends to resurface later as resentment. Hold both by naming the relationship's importance explicitly, then still doing the harder work of asking what's really driving each side's position.
Name one thing, honestly
Think of one recurring negotiation in your business — with a co-founder, supplier, or landlord. What position do you usually lead with, and what interest is actually underneath it?
Good. Now look back at the "Try this" line under whichever lesson feels most connected to what you just wrote, and treat that as this week's actual assignment — not all 4 at once.
The practices from this edition
0 of 3 selected
Run this for seven days
Before your next negotiation, sketch three different packages that could satisfy both sides — even ones you don't expect to use. Bring the menu to the table instead of the single figure.