
Ask the attorney: Should I hire a pro negotiator now that I have a buyout offer? - transburgh
http://entrepreneur.venturebeat.com/2010/02/22/ask-the-attorney-should-i-hire-a-pro-negotiator-now-that-i-have-a-buyout-offer/
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dsplittgerber
I can only attest to the difference between small-time lawyers and big-time
lawyers/trusted advocates of huge companies, who do business negotiations all
the time: The difference is huge, and it absolutely makes sense to hire a pro
negotiator. It ultimately comes down to price/terms. And an experienced
negotiator can make a huge difference there.

For you, it's a once-in-a-lifetime situation. For them, it's daily business.
Guess who's better at it.

EDIT: ah well, misread that as "Ask HN". My bad.

P.S.: I personally don't think it makes a lot of sense to have an investment
banker as the lead negotiator. They sure do add value in some cases, but most
of the issues arising in share purchase agreements are better entrusted to
lawyers.

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dabent
How does one get a buyout offer in the first place?

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joshu
Why is this being downvoted? It's a good question that I'd like to hear good
answers to.

In my case, we'd been approached.

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dabent
If you don't mind sharing, what led to the approach? Did they read about you
in the news or a blog, see an ad somewhere?

Guy Kawasaki wrote "The Art of the Start," but I think there's a need for an
"Art of the Exit" as well.

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joshu
We were getting a ton of press. We had reached out a bit to look for a search
or technology partner (vivisimo and microsoft) and Yahoo reached out.

However, we already had an investment banker (Quincy Smith) who was able to
talk to people on our behalf.

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nkurz
I thought it was a stunning example of "incentive cause bias"
(<http://vinvesting.com/docs/munger/human_misjudgement.html>) that the founder
of a "boutique corporate law firm" would recommend that one should pay for the
services of a "top M&A attorney" to decide what to do.

This isn't to say it's bad advice, but somehow it would have been more
compelling coming from an entrepreneur who had been through this process
rather than from the owner of a firm that benefits monetarily from offering
this exact service.

