Slightly doctored transcript from the meeting:
Us: This is what we do, do you like it?
Them: Very much, we're impressed with your organization. Would you like to be introduced to all of the agencies we own?
(SFX champage corks, three grown men sobbing tears of joy, backslapping.)
Us: Um. Yes.
Them: Great, let's put together a draft of a more strategic relationship.
Yesterday, after three months of daily negotiations, lots of projects and countless meetings I received a draft of that agreement. Here's the gist of it:
We:
- Give them dedicated resources to build solutions
- Give them the right to kick us out of any deals they choose
- Pay them $300K per year
They:
- Maybe bring us into deals
I know this is only the opening salvo in negotiations and I shouldn't get too worked up. But this tactic is like kidnapping someone, holding them hostage in a basement for six months, feeding them only bread and water, and then asking them how many appendages they would lop off with a butter knife in exchange for being released, and calling it negotiation.
I wonder, for $400K/year do you get fries?
1 comment:
ugh. i'm sorry Acrid. After working for a startup for many many years (some of them with you), I can understand the frustration. Non-deal deals that you spend months on, selling "analysts" who seem like they're extorting money from you at every turn, signing huge partners/vars that never sell a single seat... I can't say I miss those parts of the business.
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