Comment by studentik | Hacker News Reader

Comment by studentik | Hacker News Reader

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Many thanks, Dmitry, for brilliant and acute article. Same problems apply for me: Russian developer doing logistics software in Finland.

Here is my simple theory. There are two types of deals: friendly and unfriendly. Friendly deals happen between friends - people help each other, they have trust and comfort in negotiations, they enjoy making a deal and respect mutual interests. Unfriendly deals normally do not happen. They only happen when there are no friendly alternatives around. During unfriendly negotiations, seller is squeezed for all possible discounts, all terms are treated sceptically, fear and negativity are in the air, and with first chance deal will be off. Product has to be inevitably necessary for deal to happen in unfriendly environment.

It is natural that foreign companies and persons are treated friendly less often than local alternatives. But when product is good, and seller is right, then deals happen anyway. And deals help to make friends, and vice versa =)

> During unfriendly negotiations, seller is squeezed for all possible discounts, all terms are treated sceptically, fear and negativity are in the air, and with first chance deal will be off.

This reminds me of the adage, "A fair deal is when both parties are equally displeased with the outcome."

A great deal is when both parties feel like they've ripped the other off.

That often means that at least one side greatly underestimated the real value of the deal.

Not necessarily. It only implies that the two sides have largely different values. What is worth but perception, yada yada

I apply this to dating, both think themselves less attractive then they are and that the other are way out of their league. Doesn't seem unethical this way.

And also "if you can't figure out who the sucker is in the room, it's you."

This is a ridiculously inefficient way of doing business. Ideally most transactions should be off the shelf as otherwise transaction costs beat any 'savings' from dealing with friends.

The only 'upside' is it gives people in the middle of an organization a way to make money on the side.

PS: Enterprise discounts on enterprise prices are generally a cost increase. That said, bulk discounts can be standardized as there are savings for selling in bulk.

> Ideally most transactions should be off the shelf

What about SaaS, when most value comes from second 'S'? =)

Depends, Dropbox works fine as does AWS etc. It's all pay as you go with minimal up front prices which can be great. They also have clear prices and direct competitors.

However, integrating some highly customized software from a 3rd party is generally a terrable idea. See any school using blackboard. Remember you pay for the work and are on the hook if the company drops the product, raises prices, changes the TOS etc.

At least with public API's your likely to find a replacement or have a good starting point to roll your own.

Yet almost all business depends on personal relationships

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