Stanford Technology Ventures Program; Arbor Advisors
Stan Christensen is a partner at Arbor Advisors, an investment banking firm where he negotiates on behalf of mid-market technology companies. He has nearly twenty years of experience in both transactional and operations roles and has worked on hundreds of transactions. Before starting Arbor, he was the General Manager of Eazel, a Linux-based software startup. He started his career in corporate finance on Wall Street, and then worked for ten years with CMG, a negotiation advisory firm affiliated with The Harvard Negotiation Project. In this capacity he worked with corporations and governments-advising, negotiating, and mediating transactions and conflicts. In 1996 he was selected as a Kellogg Fellow for his work in the non-profit and public sectors. He is a member of The Council On Foreign Relations and currently teaches a course on Negotiation at Stanford University in The School of Engineering.
He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Brigham Young University.
Related Links: stvp.stanford.edu arboradvisors.com/
Last Updated: Mon, Oct 30, 2006
Stan Christensen highlights the fact that negotiations are serial events. He notes that it is important for one to realize this as you would encounter the same people in the future. He illustrates this fact from his experience in Seoul.
Young cautions against using a sword and whip with negotiations. He believes that this type of negotiation tactic has diminishing returns. Instead, he strongly advises that entrepreneurs not lose their values for the sake of winning a deal. 
Stan Christensen throws light on the art of effective negotiation. He defines it as any attempt to persuade or influence a party to do something. He adds a note of humor by illustrating it with a story of one his students.
Young talks about how he works to manage relationships not only with his teammates, but with his wife and children. It is about being able to step back and understand what holes in your life exist, he notes. In addition, it is about savoring each moment and seeing the overall picture. 
Dan Springer, CEO of Responsys, shares tactics for nurturing and protecting human capital. Springer argues that managers often make the mistake of giving unrewarding but urgent work to their best performers, which is a short term strategy that can lead to burnout and the loss of a company's best human capital. Instead, managers and entrepreneurs should focus on the long term and give their most rewarding tasks to star performers in order to nurture and protect them, because ultimately these team members provide the most value to the company.
Men and women do indeed negotiate for compensation differently, says Stan Christensen, Arbor Advisors partner and Stanford instructor. He cites one study where 60 percent of men asked for more money, whereas women with comparable backgrounds asked for more money only ten percent of the time.
Stan Christensen talks about his experience in negotiating salaries and fills the conversation with interesting personal experiences. He believes that developing a best alternative to a negotiated agreement and having a good idea about the objective criteria is key to effective negotiation of salaries.
Dan Springer, CEO of Responsys, acknowledges that the most frequent and important negotiations often occur with customers. Furthermore, Springer advises that the keys to a successful negotiation with customers include: 1) Preparation to discover what the customer wants and 2) Identifying the few things on which you will stand firm.
Stan Christensen, partner at Arbor Advisors and Stanford instructor, advises those planning a career not to be overly concerned with a linear path. While certainly there are some jobs that require specific training and expertise, the majority of positions in the business world are available to the savvy and the willful who are willing to work their way in.
Do as much informational interviewing as you can, advises Arbor Advisors partner Stan Christensen, who, through the practice, learned that law school was not a good fit for his interests. Learning the specifics of a prospective career from a distance is an enriching road map to a career path that might not suit you. And, potentially, it can save time, money, and emotional distress. 
Individuals or startups seeking legal advice need to obtain solid referrals on all prospective attorneys. Martin Nichols, partner at legal firm DLA Piper, believes entrepreneurs often don't need big legal teams, but should always seek efficient legal teams.
Stan Christensen believes that communication is a key element in negotiation. He stresses the fact that communication is about convincing the other side that you can hear them and that they are being heard. He illustrates it with anecdotes and his personal experiences in negotiating deals.
Young describes his career path from quarterback to lawyer to entrepreneur. He explains how he worked to acquire relationships with venture capitalists through their interest in football. When he retired from football, he created a funds-to-funds business in the venture capital industry with his teammates and later on, his own private equity fund. 
In football, Young notes that most of his negotiations involved getting his team to perform better. In business, however, his negotiations revolve around financial deals and figuring out the unique and individual needs of each person. According to Young, it is important to achieve a comfort level with the other negotiators to understand what their incentives are in the business. 
The industry norm is for attorneys not to take equity or a board seat as forms of compensation from startups, says attorney Martin Nichols. In Silicon Valley, fee deferrals are far more normal. Big legal firms may be less likely to work with small startups due to time and revenue constraints, but a smaller firm may not be able to provide a startup with everything that is needed when it comes time for big transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions.
Young talks about how it is important to step back and understand your own weaknesses. This allowed him to improve his ball throwing skills, even though he had a height disadvantage from other quarterbacks. According to Young, a great negotiator is able to understand his strengths and weaknesses through self-analysis.
Young talks about fostering great relationships with his teammates and learning how to overcome the competition by using his negotiation skills. He describes how most of the negotiations he has been involved with have been symbiotic. It is important for people to feel that they are not being taken advantage of because you will lose out in the long haul, he says. 
Dan Springer, CEO of Responsys, suggests strategies to retain good people. Springer suggests that the most important strategy is to help team members feel excited about their career path, whatever that might be. In addition, Springer has found that smaller rewards throughout the year for excellent work have a large effect in helping employees feel appreciated and want to stay with the company.
All organizations of employment have a political structure and revolve around the subtle arts of negotiation and relationship management. How we treat our peers - particularly our subordinates - speaks a lot about a person's character, say Arbor Advisors partner Stan Christensen. Particularly when it comes to difficult conversations - discussing problems, giving negative feedback, etc. - those who can do so with tact to all members of the organization are certain to elegantly progress.
An overbearing career is unhealthy, says Stan Christensen, Arbor Advisors Partner. Rather than working long hours, Christensen relays a successful negotiation with his manager explaining his interests outside of work. He asked to be judged by the tasks he completed, and not by the amount of hours he was in the workplace. He recalls that the results were fewer long evenings and weekends at his desk, earning him respect and the time needed for his own pursuits.