Hacker News Reader

BATNA is not about bluffing. It's about you genuinely understanding what your best alternative is if you can't reach agreement. This helps you negotiate better.

So if you think you can definitely get better offers (even if you don't have one now), that will influence your negotiating position to go for a higher offer.

View on HN

A personal example of this. A company I was working for made a lot of people redundant, although they wanted to retain me. I wasn't happy with the situation, not least because I would end up shouldering a lot more work in the reduced team. I knew I could find work somewhere else at least on what I was getting (with less responsibility). So I asked for a raise to retain me.

They refused, and I resigned immediately. I found a much better role, on more money, with better career opportunities quite quickly. My BATNA meant I could ask for the raise with some confidence. Of course you have to be willing to follow through; I wasn't bluffing.

That’s helpful, I’ve never thought about it like this before. It’s kind of what you believe is the best alternative out there and using that. A bit like hypothesis testing and gathering evidence.

Probably easier to be as aggressive as you were if there has been a significant negative change in the company vs a positive friendly environment which I have.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com