Good points, but wish the author pointed to the enormous, readable lit. (Few people I know have read things like "Getting to Yes.".)
People often are ideologically blind to fundamental antagonisms in various relationships. (For example, market interactions is a big one.) I've had entirely good deals with people who've tried to (if you'll excuse my language) fuck me over, by silently changing little things in PDF contracts, benefiting on the X% of people not paranoid enough to run diffs.
Some argue, "How can you make a good deal with someone who just tried screwing you over?" Frankly, most deals are that way. Landlords try to; you buy products from companies who routinely lie to you (and even try to make you feel miserable about yourself); etc. And if you're a bit privileged, you may be lucky enough to be able to hit back hard at some of these people.
I don't believe in dirty tricks like you describe, but it's my solemn belief that you're not negotiating unless your goal is to "fuck the other person over," or aim for an unreasonably good deal. Whether you get it or not is an entirely different matter, but that should be the starting point. You'll never get a great deal unless you try for it, or the guy you're negotiating with is an idiot (for which there is there is also a simple strategy).
I don't know why you think landlords try to fuck people over. I've been on both sides of that negotiation and it's almost entirely market driven. You must live in NYC, or maybe moved to SF in the last couple of years, and have encountered landlords who know they have you over a barrel.
Many negotiations aren't zero sum (just about price). The skilled negotiator is able to trade things that they are less concerned about for things that they are more concerned about. Even in a landlord negotiation there might be conditions around the original condition of the property or the timing of the transaction that are ancillary to the linear price dimension and may give room for both sides to win.
I hear you, but most of the literature that I've seen is about specific tactics for getting the most favorable outcome. That's an important next step, but a lot of founders I meet don't even have the foundation.
People often are ideologically blind to fundamental antagonisms in various relationships. (For example, market interactions is a big one.) I've had entirely good deals with people who've tried to (if you'll excuse my language) fuck me over, by silently changing little things in PDF contracts, benefiting on the X% of people not paranoid enough to run diffs.
Some argue, "How can you make a good deal with someone who just tried screwing you over?" Frankly, most deals are that way. Landlords try to; you buy products from companies who routinely lie to you (and even try to make you feel miserable about yourself); etc. And if you're a bit privileged, you may be lucky enough to be able to hit back hard at some of these people.