On Transparency

I'm a good negotiator. It's because I don't play games.

My role at my last several jobs involved a lot of dealmaking. Closing deals where you (the company) feel good, and the other side feels pretty good, too — that’s the dream. I’m a good negotiator, and I won a lot of deals. And I attribute my negotiation success to my willingness to be as transparent as possible.

I’ll say more on that in a moment, but first, some housekeeping.

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

As I discussed on yesterday’s episode of Your Daily Lex (my daily five minute podcast where I talk about literally anything that’s on my mind), I’ve been considering whether I want to offer a premium subscription for diehard Lex fans.

I cohost another podcast, a tech show called The Rebound, and we offer a premium subscription called Rebound Prime. For $5/month, subscribers get bonus episodes, bootlegs (raw, unedited episodes minutes after we finish recording), membership in The Rebound Discord, and the ability to submit questions we answer on the show.

On yesterday’s Your Daily Lex, I ruminated about what I could offer as a subscription. I know a good name for a premium subscription — Lextra Credit — but I was debating what I could offer. Premium podcast episodes? Premium articles? A Slack or Discord?

I think yes. To all. Eventually.

And first up, it’s the occasional premium post. Most articles on Your Intermittent Lex (the thing you’re reading right now) will remain free. But a few, I’ll charge for. Including this post. Inspired largely by the fact that after I recorded yesterday’s episode of Your Daily Lex, someone (a stranger to me) actually pledged $100 to subscribe to this site as soon as I offered subscriptions. Thank you, kind stranger!

So let’s pretend for a moment that you’re a potential client and I’m negotiating with you. I’ve said I rely on honesty, so here’s the deal: I just started my new consulting business. It’s going well. I feel really good about where things are headed. But while they’re headed there, I’m not all the way there yet. There’s work to do. That’s okay — that’s the job!

And honestly, some of the job is building, pitching, and waiting. So I thought this would be a fine venture, too. I am all about multiple revenue streams.

After the paywall jump, some more thoughts on how and why openness works in negotiations.