1. You’ve got to get along. If you don’t have good people skills, you’ll never succeed, even if you run your own business.
2. Money talks. He who has cash has leverage, and someone always has more than you do. There’s rarely a deal between equals.
3. Leverage is not always about money. I.e. if you’re an unsigned band that can sell out arenas, you’ll get an incredible deal from the label.
4. If a deal is too good, it probably is. In other words, if the other person can’t make any money, there’s going to be a problem.
5. The best deals are win-wins.
6. If you’re not willing to risk, if you’re not willing to give something up, you’re going to sit on the sidelines. Sure, the label might not offer you your dream deal, but the alternative is to go it alone, which is an option, but probably not the one you want since you entered negotiations in the first place.
7. You don’t know everything, you just think you do. If you’re not learning every day, you’re hanging with the wrong people and not applying yourself.
8. The more powerful the person, the less the chance you’ll see them at the conference. The conference is for never have and wannabes and for the purveyor to make coin. In other words, have a good time at SXSW, but the real winners are the people who put on the conference.
9. A contract does not guarantee behavior. At most it’s a guideline. If you think suing to get what you want is a solution, that the contract entitles you to win, you’re naive. (more…)