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Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
- The Bully (aka UAW negotiator). The bully negotiates by yelling and screaming, forcing issues, and threatening the other party. They usually don’t understand the issues, so they try to win by force. Unless this is your natural negotiating style, their advice is to chill out as your adversary gets hotter.
- The Nice Guy (aka used-car salesman). This style is pleasant, but you always feel like he’s trying to sell you something. While he doesn’t yell at you like the bully, it’s often frustrating to get a real answer (need to talk with the boss). For these, be clear and direct, and don’t be afraid to toss a little bully into the mix to move things forward.
- The Technocrat (aka pocket protector guy). This is the technical nerd who can put you into endless detail hell. The technocrat has a billion issues and has a hard time deciding what’s really important, since to him everything is important for some reason. Make sure you don’t lose your focus and fight for what you really care about.
- The Wimp (aka Marty McFly). You may be able to take his wallet pretty easily during the negotiation, but if you get too good a deal it will come back to haunt you. You have to live with him on the Board and making decisions. You may end up negotiating both sides of the deal, which is sometimes harder than having a real adversary.
- The Curmudgeon (aka Archie Bunker). With the curmudgeon, everything you negotiate sucks. He may not yell, but he’s never happy, and keeps reminding you how many times he has been around the block. If you are patient, upbeat, and tolerant, you’ll eventually get what you want, but don’t expect to ever please him.
