Negotiation Coach

Negotiation Coach

Walk a founder through any negotiation — deal, sale, partnership, salary, vendor — using Chris Voss's tactical empathy system, Jeremy Gon's same-side negotiation frame, Shaan Puri's skeleton disclosure trust play, and the CFO Secrets endgame tactics from My First Million.

When to Use

The user is about to negotiate something and wants coaching. They might say:

• "I'm negotiating a deal and need help"
• "How do I negotiate this contract?"
• "Someone wants to buy my company — how do I handle the conversation?"
• "I need to negotiate a raise / partnership / vendor agreement"
• "Help me prepare for this meeting"

Phase 1: Understand the Negotiation

Ask the user:

1. What are you negotiating? (Deal, sale, partnership, salary, vendor contract)
2. What's your ideal outcome?
3. What's the other side's likely position?
4. What's your walk-away point?
5. What's your relationship with the other party? (New, existing, long-term)

Phase 2: Pre-Negotiation Preparation

The Voss Pre-Frame (Chris Voss, 3yR5qVe_iXA.md)

"What do they most want to deny about me? Then say it yourself."

Before walking in, identify the accusation audit — the worst things the other side thinks about you:

• "You probably think I'm just another founder looking for a quick deal..."
• "I know this might seem like I'm lowballing you..."
• "You might feel like I'm wasting your time..."

Say it first. This deactivates the defensive posture. The brain is 75% oriented toward negative threats — start there and disarm it.

Build the user's accusation audit:

• What's the other side afraid of in this deal?
• What negative assumptions do they have about you?
• Write 2-3 accusation audit statements to open with

The Same-Side Frame (Jeremy Gon / Tiny, Mt8rCc4u_Gs.md)

"You and the other party are sitting on the same side of the table, and the problem is on the other side."

Reframe the negotiation mentally:

• You're not adversaries — you're two people trying to solve the same problem (how to make this deal work)
• Ask: "What would need to be true for [their ask] to make sense for me?"
• Build a table of needs/gives: some things you need cost them nothing, some things they need cost you nothing. Find those asymmetries first.

Help the user map:

The trades that cost one side nothing but matter to the other are where deals get made.

Phase 3: The Conversation

Opening: Labels, Not Questions (Voss)

"Questions feel like interrogation; labels feel like understanding."

Instead of asking questions that put the other side on the defensive, observe and label:

• "It seems like timing is really important to you..." (not "Why do you need to close fast?")
• "It sounds like you've had some frustrating experiences with buyers before..." (not "Why don't you trust me?")
• "You seem concerned about what happens to your team after the deal..." (not "Do you care about your employees?")

Labels open up information. Questions close it down.

The No-Oriented Question (Voss)

"Instead of 'Do you want to talk about this?' ask 'Is it ridiculous to talk about what we're here for?'"

"No" creates safety and protection. "Yes" creates friction (people feel committed). Use no-oriented questions:

• "Is it a bad idea to explore this?"
• "Would it be unreasonable to consider...?"
• "Is it ridiculous to think we could...?"

Making Them Feel Heard (Voss)

"30-50% of deals close on the spot once the other side feels heard."

This is not a tactic — it's the core principle. When someone feels genuinely heard:

• Oxytocin releases (bonding)
• Serotonin releases (satisfaction — they become less demanding)
• They stop fighting and start collaborating

The test: Can you summarize their position so accurately that they say "That's right" (not "You're right" — that's dismissal)?

Phase 4: The Anchor Game

Never Anchor First (Sam Parr's Exit Lesson, IOXkz1A5Kls.md)

"I named a price and the HubSpot negotiator later confirmed it was my biggest mistake."

If they ask "How much do you want?":

• Redirect: "I'm more interested in understanding what this is worth to you strategically."
• Or: "We're not sure yet — tell me how you're thinking about our business."
• Let them anchor first. Their number may be higher than yours.

The Lowball LOI Cascade (Jeremy Gon, Mt8rCc4u_Gs.md)

If you're the BUYER:

1. Determine the price you can stomach. Go 25% lower.
2. Send the LOI quickly — speed is your advantage.
3. When they come back with a higher competing offer: "Great, go explore that." Wait.
4. The competing offer often falls apart. You become the fallback.
5. Key principle: "Price is my due diligence." If the price is clearly a no-brainer, you don't need a perfect model.

The "Moved Straight to the End" Posture (Shaan's Musk Analysis, LzUMOVNGkwo.md)

When you have high conviction and want to skip negotiation theater:

1. State your genuine conviction about why this matters
2. Name your number and call it best and final
3. State the consequence plainly: "If this doesn't work, I'd need to reconsider my position. This is not a threat."
4. "I have moved straight to the end."

This only works when you genuinely have the conviction and the walk-away ability to back it up.

Phase 5: Building Trust Mid-Deal

The Skeleton Disclosure (Shaan Puri, F-McXK-60BI.md)

"That dinner where you showed us the skeletons — that built so much trust."

If you're the SELLER — after genuine interest is confirmed but before LOI:

1. Proactively table all the bad news about your business
2. Frame it: "I want to make sure you fully understand this. Here are all the reasons you shouldn't buy this company."
3. This filters out buyers who won't survive diligence (saving you 6 weeks)
4. And builds deep trust — buyers read it as integrity, not weakness

Signal Without Desperation (Suli Ali, F-McXK-60BI.md)

If someone approaches you about buying:

• Don't say "No, we're not interested" (they'll cross you off)
• Don't say "Yes, please buy us" (destroys leverage)
• Say: "We've had interest and had some conversations, but nothing felt right yet. We really respect you — if you want to talk, we're open."

"Looking at someone across the bar, catching their eyes for one second, smiling, then looking away."

Phase 6: The Endgame

The Last 1-3% (CFO Secrets, lklmWaX3ZrU.md)

"The winner of a negotiation is not the person with the stronger logical case. It's the person who can be most uncomfortable."

After the headline number is agreed, there's typically one final point worth 1-3% of total deal value. This is a pure stubborn match. Both sides are exhausted.

Tactics for the endgame:

• The sandbagging move: when they bring up a final point, say "I've been so busy I haven't thought much about this — I'll get back to you tonight." (You've been thinking about it the whole time.)
• Know what your last point is worth in dollars. Is it worth the discomfort of holding?
• "Momentum oils the deal wheels" — time kills deals. Sprint to close, but know the real game starts at the end.

The Voss Close

"The last impression is the lasting impression."

No matter what happened in the negotiation:

• End on a high note
• Make sure they feel respected, heard, and valued
• This protects the relationship for implementation, earnouts, future deals

Replace "trust" with "predictability": Predictable people are automatically more trusted. Be consistent from first meeting to close.

Phase 7: Search the Archive

The MFM transcripts contain negotiation stories across dozens of episodes:

grep -ri "negotiat\|deal structure\|anchor\|leverage" transcripts/
grep -ri "walked away\|best and final\|counter.*offer" transcripts/

Search for the user's specific negotiation type — there may be a relevant war story with detailed advice.

Output

After the session, deliver:

1. Accusation audit — 2-3 statements to open with
2. Needs/gives map — asymmetric trades identified
3. Label scripts — 3-5 labels to use instead of questions
4. Anchor strategy — who goes first and why
5. Trust play — skeleton disclosure or signal calibration
6. Endgame plan — the last point you'll hold on and why it's worth it
7. Closing posture — how to end regardless of outcome