Shanna Velez & Mike Marchak & Purnima Kochikar & Alyssa Ablao & Josh Kim & Randy Gelber ·Google ·15 DEC 2021

When you can't grant a carveout, invent a program — same economics, but the rule stays intact.

Don ·Google ·14 MAR 2023

When one business unit can't justify the check alone, stack the strategic value across the whole company — or lose the partner entirely.

Karen Aviram Beatty & Lawrence Koh ·Google ·11 DEC 2019

When you stack asks to justify a payment, the other side sees complexity — and offers you a simpler exit.

Johan Heurlin & Lawrence Koh & Jamie Rosenberg ·Google ·27 MAR 2019

The smartest concessions look like co-investment, not subsidies — same money, very different risk.

Brandon Barras & Sameer Samat & Kirsten Rasanen ·Google ·27 JUN 2017

The real cost of a discount isn't the revenue you lose — it's the pricing power you can never rebuild.

Sameer Samat & Laura Willis & Hiroshi Lockheimer ·Google ·18 OCT 2017

A price cut only helps you if it doesn't teach the market that your old price was negotiable.

Edward Cunningham & Sameer Samat & Jason Woloz & Jamie Rosenberg & Benjamin Poiesz & Mike Hochberg & Tian Lim & Dave Kleidermacher & Sebastian Porst & Hiroshi Lockheimer ·Google ·15 AUG 2018

A security vulnerability in a competitor's product is also a political and legal grenade — handle it before you pull the pin.

Erin Crosby & Jim Kolotouros & Sameer Samat & Jamie Rosenberg & Paul Gennai & Hiroshi Lockheimer ·Google ·19 JUN 2019

The real negotiation isn't about money — it's about locking in the business model before you write any check.

Jamie Rosenberg & Purnima Kochikar ·Google ·27 AUG 2013

If you can't publish the terms, don't pretend they're standard — say plainly that this deal is bespoke.

Jamie Rosenberg & Colin Smith & Sameer Samat & Hiroshi Lockheimer ·Google ·8 AUG 2018

When a defector proves your platform isn't the only option, your first job is to make staying feel obviously worth it.

Michael Murphy & Shafiq Ahmed & Philipp Schindler & Sridhar Ramaswamy ·Google ·21 JUL 2018

Sometimes you overpay one customer so you never have to renegotiate with the next hundred.

Jamie Rosenberg & Donald Harrison & Michael Murphy ·Google ·11 JUL 2018

The fastest way to defend a platform is to make leaving it more expensive than staying.

Tim Sweeney & Hiroshi Lockheimer ·Google ·22 JUL 2020

The moment a platform grants one developer a private deal, it loses the argument for every other developer.

Tim Sweeney & Jamie Rosenberg ·Epic Games / Google ·22 JUN 2018

When you refuse a deal, refuse the whole game — not just the terms on the table.

Sameer Samat & Jamie Rosenberg ·Google ·8 JUN 2016

You can do the work earlier and still lose the story if you never tell it.

Sarah Karam & Purnima Kochikar & Brandon Barras & Adrian Ong ·Google ·20 JUN 2018

The loudest complaint is rarely about the thing being complained about.

Mike Petrillo & Jamie Rosenberg ·Google ·3 JUN 2016

A vague public commitment can steal credit for an idea while letting your rival define the price.

Dan Jackson & Colin Smith & Hiroshi Lockheimer ·Google ·9 JAN 2020

Internal words become external weapons — pick them like a reporter will read them, because eventually one will.

Adrian Ong & Purnima Kochikar ·Google / Match Group ·19 JUN 2018

The most dangerous contract clause isn't the price — it's the one that hands your retention mechanics to someone else.

[redacted] ·Apple ·8 JUN 2015

Unequal investment across your own platform is a message — and your most engaged users will read it loud and clear.

Peter Stern & Matt Fischer & Philip Schiller & Carson Oliver & Adrian Ong ·Apple Inc. / Match Group ·28 JAN 2019

When you're a top customer paying a rack-rate meant for someone else, quantify the mismatch and name the comparable — don't complain, benchmark.

Lawrence Koh ·Google ·13 FEB 2020

When a partner is about to walk, buy the pause first and negotiate the terms later.

Paul Gennai & Atul Kumar & Samer Sayigh & Jamie Rosenberg & Alexi Douvas & Shafiq Ahmed & Mike Petrillo ·Google ·26 MAR 2019

When one number scares a partner, wrap it inside a bigger one they can't easily unpack.

Jim Kolotouros & Jamie Rosenberg & Hiroshi Lockheimer & Sameer Samat ·Google ·30 MAY 2019

When one partner controls half your revenue, stop negotiating deal by deal — treat every dollar you send them as one connected bet.

Kirsten Rasanen & Sameer Samat & Wilson White & Paul Feng ·Google ·17 OCT 2017

When you're about to close a door on a big partner, walking through it in person costs you nothing and buys you information you can't get any other way.

Kirsten Rasanen & Jamie Rosenberg & Sameer Samat ·Google ·18 SEP 2017

When a policy will anger your biggest partners, negotiate them into it privately before the world hears about it.

Kirsten Rasanen ·Google ·7 FEB 2018

A 10% discount can't buy compliance when the real objection is losing control of the customer.

Purnima Kochikar & Sarah Karam & Brandon Barras & Paul Feng & Sameer Samat ·Google ·23 JUL 2019

If a user was already searching for your product before arriving at the platform, the platform didn't create that demand — and both sides know it.

Purnima Kochikar & Jamie Rosenberg & Sidney Lee & Marc Shedroff ·Google ·10 JUN 2020

The most powerful concession is one you give verbally and can quietly take back — without ever touching the written agreement.

Purnima Kochikar & Tia Arzu & Paul Gennai & Jamie Rosenberg ·Google ·23 JUN 2018

Before you negotiate, know exactly how much the other side needs you — and make sure your team does too.

Purnima Kochikar & Jamie Rosenberg ·Google ·19 JUL 2018

Great negotiators don't just prepare arguments — they stage-manage what the other side hears, when, and from whom.

Purnima Kochikar & Jamie Rosenberg & Bob Meese ·Google ·3 AUG 2013

Developers won't pay you 30% to process a credit card. They'll pay it to reach customers.

Purnima Kochikar & Tim Sweeney & Donald Harrison & Hiroshi Lockheimer ·Google / Epic Games ·10 DEC 2019

When you're picking a fight with a giant, don't ask for an exception — demand a rule change, and make sure everyone is watching.

Jamie Rosenberg & Tian Lim & Erin Crosby & Sameer Samat ·Google ·7 FEB 2019

When a partner tries to build a competing store, don't fight the ambition — offer to power it.

Kirsten Rasanen & Samer Sayigh ·Google ·21 DEC 2023

The best-designed policy loses to the loudest possible critic — until you honestly weigh the cost of doing nothing.

[redacted developer] ·Apple ·23 AUG 2015

When a platform controls your distribution, their algorithm changes are your revenue changes — full stop.

Apple Legal Department ·Apple Inc. ·4 SEP 2020

When someone attacks your pricing, don't defend the price — redefine what they're actually paying for.

Apple Legal Department ·Apple Inc. ·8 SEP 2020

When someone attacks your price, don't defend the price — redefine what they're actually paying for.

Apple Legal Department ·Apple Inc. ·15 SEP 2020

When someone attacks your fee, don't defend the fee — redefine what they're actually buying.

Matt Fischer ·Apple Inc. ·21 AUG 2018

The moment your partners consistently refuse your terms, you have two choices: lose them or adapt — and waiting too long to decide is its own decision.

Tim Sweeney ·Epic Games ·30 JUN 2020

When you can't beat a gatekeeper on their terms, reframe the fight as being about their customers, not you.

Tim Sweeney ·Epic Games ·17 JUL 2020

When a business dispute stops being about money and starts being about principle, the other side's lawyers are no longer the audience — the public and the courts are.

Tim Sweeney ·Epic Games ·13 AUG 2020

When you deliberately break a powerful partner's rules, the letter you send isn't a negotiation — it's the opening statement of a lawsuit you've already prepared.