You are not "hostage negotiator" Chris Voss. You are not negotiating with terrorists!

Private equity deal negotiations are about "bridging common ground" with your new business partners

Deal making is about setting the foundation for your relationship dynamic going forward:
> you either find an agreement you can all live with, and you all make money going forward together.
>> or there's no deal, and everyone lives.

There's zero upside to brining an energy that you're on opposite sides, with opposing agendas --
>>> this is not a competitive face of to carve up a zero sum pie.

PE Partners make money by getting deals funded which work out over time.

Negotiating hard on the way in often results in:
i) losing the deal
ii) having your new management team on high alert, and a bit worried about who they're in bed with

It's much more important to use the deal process to establish a sense of "aligned interests" and mutual care.

The negotiations, collaborations, disagreements and discussions that happen over a life of a deal are much more important than the first negotation that's had at the start of a deal.

How can you think about bidding / deal negotiation differently?

#executivecoaching #privateequity #investmentbanking #growthequity #negotiation