The great majority of startups fail, and most entrepreneurs who have succeeded have had to bounce back from serious mistakes. Entrepreneurs fumble key interactions because they don’t know how to handle the negotiation challenges that almost always arise. They mistakenly believe that deals are about money when they are much more complicated than that.
This book presents entrepreneurship as a series of interactions between founders, partners, potential partners, investors and others at various stages of the entrepreneurial process – from seed to exit. There are plenty of authors offering ‘tips’ on how to succeed as an entrepreneur, but no one else scrutinizes the negotiation mistakes that successful entrepreneurs talk about with the authors.
As Dinnar and Susskind show, learning to handle emotions, manage uncertainty, cope with technical complexity and build long-term relationships are equally or even more important. This book spotlights eight big mistakes that entrepreneurs often make and shows how most can be prevented with some forethought. It includes interviews with high-profile entrepreneurs about their own mistakes. It also covers gender biases, cultural challenges, and when to employ agents to negotiate on your behalf.
Aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs should pay attention to the negotiation errors that even the most successful entrepreneurs commonly make.
Table of Content
1. Entrepreneurship: The Good, the Bad and the TerribleGood: When Co-founders Get Started
Bad: When Angels Sing and Investors Dance
Terrible: When Dogs-Eat-DogsHow to Use this Book
Something Better: An Alternative Good Ending 2. The Entrepreneurial World
The Entrepreneurship Process in Stages: from Seed to Exit
Entrepreneurs Who Can Negotiate Can Make Things Happen
A Map of the Entrepreneurial GalaxyCreate Disruption, Thrive on Change, and Adapt
Innovation Does Not Mean Reinventing Every WheelNegotiation is a Vitally Important Entrepreneurial Skill
3. When Entrepreneurs Negotiate
Entrepreneurs Must Take Risks
What Made You Successful, Can Get You in Big Trouble
Entrepreneurial Negotiation Can be Learned
Negotiate Better and Become a Better LeaderThe 8 Most Dangerous Mistakes That Entrepreneurs Make
How to Use the Recorded Cases That Follow
4. Listen to Real Entrepreneurs Describe their Mistakes
Listen to Real Entrepreneurs Describe their Mistakes
Case A – Illai Self-Centered Seed Stage Pitch
Case B – Ailis Overly Optimistic Seed Stage Non-InvestmentCase C – Vinayak Winning at Competing First Term Sheets
Case D – Barbara Compromising for Quicker Growth Stage Hiring
Case E – Stephen Alone and Not Prepared to Sell the Company
Case F – Dip Haggling to Extend the Runway
Case G – Ben Intuitive Shift of the Revenue Growth
Case H – Petra & Peter Non-Emotional Selling of their CompanyReflections on the Eight Cases
5. The Entrepreneurial Galaxy Reimagined: Prevent, Detect and Respond to Your Mistakes
Entrepreneurship As a Series of Negotiations
Negotiating with Different Categories of Players
Prevent Mistakes Before They Occur
Detect Mistakes As You Make Them
Reflect on Mistakes After Each Negotiation is Over
Overcoming Biases and Challenges of Culture and Gender
Using Agents to Negotiate on Your Behalf6. Know Your Entrepreneurial Self
Know Your Negotiating SelfDealing with the Most Dangerous Mistakes
Develop The Skills You NeedKeep Reflecting on Your Personal Theory of Practice
Continue to ImproveSoar with Your Strengths
Develop and Support your TeamHelp Spread The Word!
Appendix – Theory of Practice Tools and Templates
About the author
Samuel Dinnar is an instructor at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, with a 25-year track record as a global entrepreneur, hi-tech executive, board member, and venture capital investor. He is a strategic negotiation advisor and a mediator specializing in business conflicts involving founders, investors, and board members in early-stage, high-growth and distressed companies.Lawrence Susskind has been an innovator and Professor at MIT for more than forty-five years. He is one of the founders and directors of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, and a founder of the Consensus Building Institute. He has trained tens of thousands of students and executives globally, and has published twenty books.
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