Gentle Power

Gerta and Alex at YourNegotiations.com
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Join Gerta Malaj & Alex Choi break down our negotiation strategies, unpack real-world success stories, and share practical tactics alongside conversations with leading experts. As cofounders of YourNegotiations.com, they help execs, mid-careers, and founders negotiate job offers and business deals. They're Harvard, MIT, and Wharton alums who have helped hundreds of clients increase their comp packages by an average of $100K, with some seeing increases up to $1.7M. Their backgrounds span tech (LinkedIn, Meta), the US Air Force, venture capital, and building venture-backed companies.

  1. 1d ago

    62. Gerta’s MIT negotiation professor | Ofer Sharone

    Professor Ofer Sharone has taught negotiations at MIT Sloan School of Management and currently at University of Massachusetts Amherst, and he happens to be one of Gerta’s earliest influences for her interest in negotiations. She took his Power and Negotiations class at MIT during undergrad, and over a decade later, we welcomed to our podcast! Professor Sharone’s path to teaching about negotiations took many turns throughout his career. He earned his JD at Harvard Law School, spent his early career negotiating $100M+ finance deals in Japan, then left law to earn a PhD in sociology and to research how people navigate the job search and workplace. MIT brought him in to teach negotiations on the strength of his legal background, and today teaches the topic at UMass Amherst’s public policy shcool. In this episode: Why power in a negotiation doesn't have to be zero-sumWhat makes a job offer the rare negotiation where the relationship and the money are both crucialHow to run a salary conversation as joint problem-solving, and why "non-negotiable" isn’t a often a hard lineThe detective work of figuring out why a company picked you, and how to turn it into leverageWhy naming a number too early works against you, and what Professor Sharone thinks about “anchoring” in salary negotiationsProfessor Sharone’s take on AI and the future of work Connect with Ofer Sharone: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ofersharone For more: Book free consultation call with Alex: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call Get our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.com Read our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiations Gerta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalaj Alex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

    1h 4m

  2. Jun 18

    61. Negotiate like a gardener, not a hunter | Daniel Imberman

    Daniel Imberman was employee number 10 at Astronomer, the data company that went viral from a Coldplay kiss cam, and he helped grow it from 10 to 300 people. He then left to start his own consulting firm out of Mexico City, where he himself is the product. This career pivot massively flipped his experience with negotiations. He used to negotiate once every year or two as an employee. Now he negotiates every week, and this episode is a crash course on what he’s had to learn to make his business work.We get into what changes when negotiation becomes a weekly habit, why he treats selling more like gardening than hunting, what people really mean when they say that your service is too expensive, and the high-stakes internal negotiation at Astronomer that reshaped an entire product.• Why the once-a-year employee raise conversation is a different beast from negotiating as a consultant every week• The gardener approach to building a pipeline, and why some clients only sign months or years later• What “too expensive” usually means, and how to address this before you ever talk price• How to align incentives so your pay is tied to the other side’s outcome• What to watch for when your comp package is built on milestones rather than base• How Daniel changed a company’s product roadmap by showing up with receiptsConnect with Daniel Imberman: https://imberman.aiFor more:• Book free consultation call with Alex: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call• Get our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.com• Read our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.com• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiations• Gerta’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalaj• Alex’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

    45 min

  3. Jun 11

    60. Emergency Q&A for the 8,000 people Meta just laid off | Alex Daniels

    We hosted a live Q&A a few weeks ago for people recently laid off from several large tech companies, but we ran way over time and couldn't get to all the questions. So we brought our lawyer friend, Alex Daniels, back to the podcast to finish the convo around all things severance agreements. Alex Daniels is a corporate attorney who spent years at Cooley, one of Silicon Valley's top law firms. Joining us as co-host was Grace Ling, creator and community builder, who had just finished her guest interview with us and stayed to help field questions. Together, we all discuss some important things that laid-off employees need to know: what protected class status actually means in a negotiation, how discrimination gets established, and what it takes for a situation to be worth pursuing with an attorney. Important legal disclaimer: Alex Daniels is a lawyer, but he's not your lawyer. Everything shared in this episode is general guidance, and employment law has a lot of edge cases that depend on your specific situation and location. We're also neither advocating for nor recommending that you take legal action against your employer. Speak directly with an employment attorney in your state if you'd like to explore your options. • What at-will employment means and how protected class status changes your leverage in a layoff • The difference between express and tacit discrimination, and why patterns matter even without direct evidence • Why most employment disputes settle before reaching court, and what that means for how companies structure severance offers • How to think about whether your situation is worth a consultation with an employment litigator • Why state law governs most employment situations, and how different the landscape looks from state to state • A simple rule of thumb for remote workers on which state's laws actually apply to them To connect with Alex Daniels: • Add him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandersamueldaniels • Visit his website: https://www.decryptedlaw.com For more: • Book free consultation call with us: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call • Get our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.com • Read our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.com • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiations • Gerta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalaj • Alex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

    17 min

  4. Jun 1

    59. What do Tesla and Google vs suppliers negotiations look like? | Angela Liao

    Angela Liao has spent her career on both sides of billion-dollar manufacturing negotiations. She built her foundation on the supplier side in Asia, negotiating contracts on behalf of manufacturing companies with some of the world’s biggest tech companies as her customers. She later joined Tesla and then Google, where she now leads device strategy and supply chain partnerships, negotiating manufacturing deals for the Google Pixel phone. She also built and launched an internal negotiation training program at Google, which started as a physical card deck and is now becoming an AI-powered negotiation practice tool used broadly across many Google. Angela shares her deep industry knowledge in what negotiations look like in high-stakes business deals and why leverage is rarely as one-sided as it looks, even if one side is seemingly more powerful and better resourced than the other. • Why suppliers to much larger companies often hold more leverage than people assume, and how they use it • The asker versus guesser culture of communication • How Angela’s team resolved a months-long stalemate with a business partner that wanted 100% of the value on the table • What every negotiator should clarify about their own priorities before walking into any negotiation Connect with Angela Liao: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelaliaomba For more: • Book free consultation call with Alex: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call • Get our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.com • Read our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.com • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiations • Gerta’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalaj • Alex’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

    1h 7m

  5. May 15

    58. Negotiating on behalf of the Prime Minister | Arben Malaj (Part 3)

    Arben Malaj has had one of the most consequential economic careers in Albanian history. In the late 1990s, he served as Albania's Minister of Finance during the country's worst financial crisis: a wave of Ponzi schemes that wiped out the savings of roughly 60% of the population overnight. He later served as Minister of Economy, where he negotiated more than 30 free trade agreements. He's been a decades-long public servant, board member of the Central Bank of Albania, a professor, a consultant, a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, and one of the sharper minds we've had on Gentle Power. He also happens to be Gerta's father, which made this conversation different in ways we didn't fully anticipate. We had so much positive feedback to our first interview series with Arben (Parts 1 and 2 in links below) that we invited him back to the pod when Gerta's parents were visiting us in San Francisco. We go even deeper into his journey from relatively unknown local politician to being considered for the country's prime ministership, and all the lessons on negotiations and power he learned along the way. • Why first impressions and presentation aren't vanity; they're the starting point of every negotiation • How Arben kept getting pulled into government roles he didn't seek, and what that reveals about leadership • What he did on Day 1 as minister to build trust with his team, and why it mattered • His reputation with the IMF: hard to move, reliable once committed • The regret he carries about a political offer he turned down, and what it says about high-stakes decisions For more: • Book a free consultation call with Alex: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call • Get our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.com • Read our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.com/newsletter • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiations • Gerta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalaj • Alex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

    51 min
  6. 57. Heiress to refugee camps: Germany's Paris Hilton on building community & negotiating identity | Paula Schwarz

    Apr 29

    57. Heiress to refugee camps: Germany's Paris Hilton on building community & negotiating identity | Paula Schwarz

    Paula Schwarz grew up as part of the Schwarz Pharma family, one of the largest pharmaceutical dynasties in Germany. She walked us through her background that led to her leaving all of that behind, spending years running technology platforms in refugee camps on the Greek island of Samos, building a co-living home network called Angel House now spanning Greece and San Francisco, and making the final round of the Miss Germany competition. She's also building MaharCar, a rideshare platform for refugees she originally launched with Uber's support, and MayaCode, an AI agent that helps refugees and government workers navigate bureaucratic forms in 300 languages. This episode covers: • Why knowing your priorities is the actual starting point of any negotiation • How to sequence your asks: in the first meeting, sell the next step in the conversation, not the final ask • Understanding what's in it for the other side, and leading with that instead • Why women often negotiate better for others than for themselves, and how to make use of that as a woman • Staying true to your values when the system keeps rewarding different behavior Learn more about Paula and her work: • Website: https://www.paula-schwarz.com • MaharCar (rideshare for vulnerable populations): https://marhacar.org For more: • Book free consultation call with Alex: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call • Get our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.com • Read our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.com • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiations • Gerta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalaj • Alex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

    1h 8m
  7. 56. How to negotiate when you think you have no leverage | Priyanka Upadhyay

    Apr 26

    56. How to negotiate when you think you have no leverage | Priyanka Upadhyay

    Priyanka Upadhyay, aka Coach Pri, spent 18 years in tech (Google, Salesforce, ServiceNow) before founding Product With Pri, a coaching and training business for product managers navigating job searches, transitions, and high-stakes career conversations. She's also an ICF-certified coach who's taught PM programs at Stanford and Product School, and now runs intimate small group cohorts for PMs looking to level up in their careers. In this episode, we got into the negotiation mindset traps that costs product managers money, why companies aren't actually optimizing for the cheapest hire, and how Pri negotiated her way through various situations in her life, from a grade dispute when she was attending Columbia Business School and a divorce mediation. Our conversation touches on the immigrant experience, the psychology of leverage, the importance of knowing what you're actually negotiating for, and the role of creative thinking when you think you have no options. • Why negotiation is underrated, and why most candidates don't use the support they already have • The "beggars can't be choosers" mindset and how exhaustion from a long job search quietly erodes your leverage • Why companies aren't optimizing for the cheapest hire, and what signaling strong self-advocacy actually communicates • Information gathering as the core of negotiation: understanding urgency, goals, and what the other side needs before you make any ask • Showing enthusiasm alongside your ask, and why that positioning matters for both top-choice and backup candidates• Getting clear on what you're actually negotiating for (base, flexibility, speed, impact) and why that has to come first Connect with Coach Pri: • Pri’s website: https://www.coachpri.com • PM Skills Quiz - https://www.coachpri.com/pm-quiz • Pri’s newsletter: https://productwithpri.beehiiv.com (for experienced PMs who want to grow their career & amplify their impact) • Book free 15-min career strategy session with Coach Pri: https://www.coachpri.com/career-brainstorm-call For more: • Book free consultation call with Alex: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call • Get our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.com • Read our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.com • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiations • Gerta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalaj • Alex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

    1h 2m

  8. Apr 17

    55. A former intelligence officer on power & negotiations | Jim Lose

    Jim Lose is a Marine Corps veteran and the CEO of The Military Veteran, a firm that places veteran executives into high-growth companies. Before moving into recruiting, Jim was a Marine Corps intelligence officer, including a tour at the Pentagon where, at 25, he regularly briefed the Commandant of the Marine Corps and had authorization to contact the White House Situation Room. After the military, Jim spent over 20 years in executive search, placing thousands of veterans transitioning into the private sector into corporate roles. In this episode, Jim joins Alex and Gerta to talk about what the military gives and takes away from you when it's time to negotiate your next career move, why veterans tend to undersell themselves, and what's actually happening behind the scenes when a recruiter facilitates your offer conversation with a prospective employer. • Why veterans struggle to advocate for themselves, and why military culture is specifically designed to work against you in compensation conversations • How the public pay structure of the military leaves veterans without the instincts to price themselves in the private sector • Jim's approach to coaching candidates: interview widely first, get selective when offers are in hand • What's actually happening when a recruiter asks how you'd feel if the offer disappeared • Gentle power in practice: how to signal competing options without damaging the relationship Connect with Jim Lose on LinkedIn, and learn more about this work here: • https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameslose • https://www.themilvet.org For more: • Book free consultation call with Alex: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call • Get our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.com • Read our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.com • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiations • Gerta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalaj • Alex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

    1 hr
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About

Join Gerta Malaj & Alex Choi break down our negotiation strategies, unpack real-world success stories, and share practical tactics alongside conversations with leading experts. As cofounders of YourNegotiations.com, they help execs, mid-careers, and founders negotiate job offers and business deals. They're Harvard, MIT, and Wharton alums who have helped hundreds of clients increase their comp packages by an average of $100K, with some seeing increases up to $1.7M. Their backgrounds span tech (LinkedIn, Meta), the US Air Force, venture capital, and building venture-backed companies.

Information

  • Creator
    Gerta and Alex at YourNegotiations.com
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    63
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Gerta and Alex at YourNegotiations.com
  • Show Website
    Gentle Power