The oxygen for getting a deal done is momentum.
Whether it's M&A, a legislative compromise, a sales deal, an investment, any transaction at all... the faster it goes the faster it goes.
Specifically:
Specifically:
What is momentum in a deal, exactly? Speed of responses from the other side, speed of progress toward agreement with each exchange (which is why overloading with too many asks, even if you have leverage, is often a mistake, #hocusfocus works in deals, too).
Momentum also heightens emotions. Less time to think, and the movements feel bigger than they are. (Many of the best deal people are able to reason logically when circumstances change even if it's dramatic and rapid.)
Outside events play into momentum: e.g., an exec gets fired and everyone stalls waiting to see what will happen. The news covers the deal every day while it's in progress and you just want it to be over.
(One reason deals are fun is they mix luck of outside events with skill.)
(One reason deals are fun is they mix luck of outside events with skill.)
Deadlines matter, but false ones are false. Better to discover if there are any real time pressures and, if not, arrange for there to be one -- though concocted deadlines ruin momentum when they pass.
(This core insight -- on momentum being the oxygen for deals -- is something I learned way back from @DanDoctoroff, negotiating with the Port Authority or somesuch, and think about on, um, basically every deal.)
