Ask HN: So I quit my job to focus on my startup...

I am surprised at the negative responses you've received in the last ten minutes of posting this, it is very much against the spirit of what usually occurs.<p>1) The book that I've seen mentioned the most often in the area of negotiation is not actually directly on that topic. It is just a general book on "getting it your way" - Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people".<p>2) I am in NYC, there are local python-nyc and ruby-nyc user groups, and they get a decent amount of traffic with people asking for help on various projects, a lot full-time, but occasionally a part-time gig offer comes up. Research the equivalent in your area.

If you actually want to make your startup work, avoid freelancing. It's way too easy to get sucked into spending all of your time consulting, and it's pretty difficult to be fully mentally engaged in multiple projects. Also, the hardest part of freelancing is when you're just starting out. If you don't already have clients or a reputation, you'll spend all of your time trying to find clients and bidding on projects.<p>During this time, you won't be making any money, and the money you do make will probably be shitty because your clients will be the kind you find on craigslist that want you to build them "a facebook for X" in exchange for a sandwich. More importantly, all of this time will be time you didn't spend developing your startup.

I once asked a very good negotiator for the best book he could recommend on negotiation, and he directed me to <i>Start With No</i>. (URL: <a href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&#38;bc1=000000&#38;IS2=1&#38;bg1=FFFFFF&#38;fc1=000000&#38;lc1=0000FF&#38;t=randomobser0b-20&#38;o=1&#38;p=8&#38;l=as1&#38;m=amazon&#38;f=ifr&#38;md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&#38;asins=0609608002" rel="nofollow">http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&#38;bc1=000000&#38;IS2...</a>)<p>I've read it, it made sense to me, I've noticed a number of good negotiators doing things it suggests and my (admittedly few) negotiations I've done since have gone much better.

Getting to Yes is a pretty classic negotiation book:<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-Without/dp/0140157352" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-With...</a>

I'm the guy who quit with OP. In fact, his lead engineer (on paper). There's an interesting dynamic when two people quit at the same time. Game theory time!<p>We do have a fair amount of leverage when it comes to negotiating severance pay, due to our knowledge of distributed architecture.<p>But yes, we're committed 150% to the startup. And submitted our YC application a few days ago :)

<i>"... Who can recommend good books/articles on negotiation? ..."</i><p>Negotiation is as much about non-verbal as it is verbal. So what's a good way to learn negotiation aside from watching <i>"Lie to me"</i> ~ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_to_Me" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_to_Me</a> or <i>"Hustle"</i> ~ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hustle_(TV_series)" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hustle_(TV_series)</a> ? What about playing and learning poker?<p>In any sort of negotiation it helps if you can understand a) where the person you are negotiating with is coming from and b) what they are really thinking.This is where playing poker can help. To win you sometimes have to bluff (or lie) about your hand. People who are superior at understand and reading what others are thinking can use this to their advantage so try some books on psychology. A good start is understanding <i>"cognitive bias"</i> (how individual psychology can influence individual decisions) ~ <a href="http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Cognitive_bias" rel="nofollow">http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Cognitive_bias</a><p>Another good reference ~ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ekman" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ekman</a>

"Who can recommend good books/articles on negotiation?"<p>The best book on negotiation, bar none, is "Bargaining for Advantage : Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People" By Richard Shell. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bargaining-Advantage-Negotiation-Strategies-Reasonable/dp/0140281916" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Bargaining-Advantage-Negotiation-Strat...</a> (looks like it is out of print, but used copies seem cheap enough)

Best of luck to you with your startup! Here are some good articles about negotiation: <a href="http://www.negotiatormagazine.com/subject_index.shtml" rel="nofollow">http://www.negotiatormagazine.com/subject_index.shtml</a>

If you are a techie, the best freelance/temp work will come from your persistently networking with people and companies that match your interest and expertise. Those may also lead to partnerships or investments or just plain old good advice for your startup.<p>Of course there can be a lot of difficult balancing required between freelancing and starting up, but many people make it work. The salesmanship, discipline, and customer relations skills you learn freelancing can certainly come in handy in a startup.

I've recently finished listening to "Influencer": <a href="http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/products/ProductDetail.jsp?productID=BK_HIGH_000356&#38;BV_UseBVCookie=Yes" rel="nofollow">http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/products/ProductDetail.jsp?...</a><p>From my review: "I expected this book to be less scientific and less valuable than it turned out to be. Not one of those stupid motivational books, but rather a good theory source with real-life cases as illustrations.<p>Some of the chapters move you away from the major subject while trying to prove a point, and discuss things like, for example, delaying gratification studies or skills acquisition processes. These topics, however, are presented in a great scientific manner (well, maybe not a scientific, but at least authors are not bullshitting with you and consider you to be smart) and are supplied with data and good examples, so it's a pleasure to read (listen to) them.<p>I also think this book is a must-read for entrepreneurs, as they are the ones, who must influence people all the time and be good at it. And while they usually learn to do so by practicing, this book might provide a great deal of theory to start with."<p>I'm also listening to the other book by these authors now - it's called "Crucial Conversations", seems like it's really useful too.

Highly recommended, and no one has mentioned yet:<p>Getting To Yes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_to_YES" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_to_YES</a><p>And anything by Cialdini: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cialdini" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cialdini</a>

For starters, I'd recommend 'How to win friends and influence people' by Dale Caregie and 'How to talk to anyone' by Leil Lowndes.<p>Freelancing to pay bills also turns out to be a big distraction. I'd recommend exploring other creative ways that don't take your focus off of your startup to pay (or avoid) your bills.

I am taking a negotiation class right now and we are using the three books listed below. The professor is really great, and the books are not boring college textbooks - they're really engaging and I'd read them on my own if I wasn't taking the course, too.<p>"Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive" by Goldstein, Margin, &#38; Cialdini is a great book on influence and persuasion.<p>Cialdini is a great resource for influence/negotiation in general, so look for other articles/books written by him.<p>"Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions" by Ariely is a great book on behavioral economics<p>"Negotiation" by Lewicki, Saunders, and Barry

why are you jumping right into negotiation skills? do you have a product yet? has someone approached you and said "we want to buy your company!"?<p>i know zackattack's comment got downvoted pretty badly, maybe because he was a bit too facetious in how he phrased it. but you do have some money saved up to last at least a few months, don't you?<p>edit: i'm not trying to be negative, i am very much for quitting to do your start up. but trying to learn how to negotiate seems like a bad sign. if anything, you should be focused on building something people want right now.

All of these questions should of been researched to death before you leaped.

I started doing that when I ran out of all my previous savings. If you are confident that you can always make money, wait and give all the time to your startup before it runs out.

Congrats.<p>Why are you looking for books on negotiation? I don't have any other than the ones mentioned, but the first rule of negotiation is to pretend like you don't give a shit about the favorable outcome, then proceed from that premise and everything will be fine.<p>This is jacquesm's must read on consulting: <a href="http://jacquesmattheij.com/be-consultant" rel="nofollow">http://jacquesmattheij.com/be-consultant</a>

Fisher and Ury's "Getting to Yes" is the most authoritative text on negotiation and very accessible.<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_to_YES" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_to_YES</a>

So what is your startup?

Agree with thomaspaine. I'm freelancer and working on others projects takes most of my time

Against All Odds by James Dyson and Pouring Your Heart Into it (starbucks) are on my list

Negotiation is about getting a good deal that both sides feel is of value to them.

I had a class called "Negotiation and Conflict Management". The two required texts for it were "Getting to Yes" and "The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator". My recollection is that these are the only two books on the topic (or were at the time) that are based on research. "Getting to Yes" is short and an easy read. "The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator" is a much meatier book. I recommend it often.

You're fucked.<p>The first principle of negotiation is to always have a better option.

one of the regulars here posted an awesome guide about freelancing. i would look it up but i'm going to grab a beer instead =)