I feel like he really dropped the ball on negotiating the sale. It seems like he didn't make any counters, and didn't use their competing interest to reap a higher price.
I was expecting at least a cease and desist or lawsuit would be involved.
I was expecting at least a cease and desist or lawsuit would be involved.
Apple wasn't paying for the same insider knowledge of their platform's functionality that they already had; they were paying for the additional work that created new functionality.
I don't see any reason why he shouldn't have asked for as much as he thought the product was worth.
EDIT found a video of Ron telling the story in person http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7497796873809571567...
If you don't know one off the top of your head and you are in a pinch, go with the cockiest asshole you know. While they may not be skilled negotiators, there attitude will deflect a lot of the low ball crap like the scare tactics mentioned in this article.
Negotiating is a mental game and that is why they say if you are weak at it don't do it in person. You will give yourself away with dozens of non-verbal actions. You can learn to not exhibit certain behaviors but that is only a third of the game, you also have to be firm and confident (the mental part) which has to be in your nature and then finally you have to be able to read their non-verbal communication.
That is why if you are not good, you are better to battle it out on a different field, as you are given the other party a significant advantage, 2/3 as a matter of fact, you are given them your non-verbal indicators and you are not picking up theirs, so you now you only have the last 1/3 to stand on. Hence if you have to do it, find an asshole because they have mastered that 1/3.
To answer you question more directly, a skilled delegate should be your first line, email should be your second and phone should be your third. Without a delegate, email is your best bet because you have the luxury of getting other people to vet it before the communication happens. Try to avoid the phone while negotiations are taking place, they are going to try to ambush you with a phone call, if they are a good negotiator because it bring you back half way to their battleground. In your first email on negotiations try to set the stage for email being the grounds that negotiations will take place. There is a plethora of valid reasons to do it over email, find one and stick with it.
If the initial contact happens in person, try to exit the situation without an answer like, let me think it over and I will get back to you or I have to discuss it with my partners (wife, dad, dog) before I can give you a firm commitment. This places the current negotiations in a suspended state, until you are in a position to resume them on your chosen battleground.
If you have a stake in the outcome, and you're emotionally involved do not negotiate directly, place someone in between you and the other party. That gives you a bit of perspective and time to think things over before responding.
This is especially important if you are easy to 'read'.
The way to improve your negotiation skills is to be the negotiator for others in small stakes situations, then build it up over time to higher stakes.
I know a few people who are really good at negotiating - the difference between what they can achieve and what an "amateur" (like me) will get in a similar situation is astounding.