“We WILL get through this together.” 

• Competitive Process. Whether it is a vendor or an investor, hold a competitive bid process. When you have narrowed your selections down to few (or one), or if you are left with one selection, this need not be shared with these parties. Parties vying for your business should understand that they are competing with others.
• Attitude. Sometimes your attitude, body language, and tone can be compelling enough to create leverage. Shift your passion for your vision into a natural confidence. Communicate that the success of your business is not a matter of “if” but “when”. Regardless of your stage, always negotiate from a position of strength. Pay attention to the principle of least interest even if your interest is greater and always behave like you want a relationship, not that you need a relationship.
• Never Let Anyone Be the Only Source. There will be times during your company in which you will only have one source for a solution. This most often comes up with vendors and investors but may also apply to customers and employees. Ideally, you should always have several sources for a solution. In early stages, this is not always possible. When it is not possible, the party that is your only solution should not know that they are your only source. In a perfect world, these relationships would appreciate that this venture is your vision and would never take advantage of the fact that they are the only source. Unfortunately, you must accept that some resources will leverage this knowledge to your disadvantage.

This is hard. In early stages, you want to create relationships with companies that will ride the wave with you. Companies that will see your vision and take a flier on it. Unfortunately, more often than not, companies understandably protect their self-interest. This is not to say that all constituents will do that. If you are fortunate enough to find constituents that share your common vision and are willing to invest in it, so be it. Until that happens, however, you must not expose your vulnerability.