Ridiculously Badass in ShanghaiLife experiences as a foreigner in Shanghai and how you can learn from them – including my shortcut techniques for studying Chinese.

I’ve been watching the show “Shark Tank”, absolutely love the show (seems like some of the “Dragons” from Dragon’s Den have now become “Sharks).

Anyways, every time I watch the show I get so frustrated because the inventors of the products don’t know how to negotiate at all. They just hear an offer from the Sharks and say “nope, too, low” then walk away. The Sharks are always up for negotiating and are expecting counter-offers. Could you imagine a business deal without any negotiation? How often does that happen?

One of the best books I’ve ever read is Secrets of Power Negotiating by Roger Dawson. The knowledge I gained from this book saved me tonnes of money and I think about this book in my day-to-day life. Almost everything – even meeting up with friends at a certain time and place, is a negotiation.

Here’s some of the gambits in the book that I think of a lot:

Ask for more than you expect to get.

Never say yes to the first offer

Flinch at proposals

Avoid confrontational negotiation.