Emil Michael

“Don’t Read Negotiation Books” and Other Top Tips From a Legendary Entrepreneur

“Most negotiation books teach you a methodology that’s anti-humanist. The most successful negotiations are all about understanding the human beings on the other side,” says Emil Michael, the legendary tech entrepreneur who has raised over $25 billion in capital and closed high-profile deals and partnerships around the world. This included negotiating an $8 billion deal in China in only 60 days, where Michael’s hard work and understanding of the culture and nuances of doing business—right down to researching the right drink to order with dinner—was integral to success. “You have to invest the time to really understand what motivates people,” he says. “Are they trying to get promoted? Is the company doing well? How’s their family life? And in the case of doing business with another culture, how to meet them where they are and show respect.” In this essential talk, Emil Michael walks you through the most successful negotiations of his career—from turning a $300 million deal with Microsoft into an $800 million one to introducing Uber to local markets around the world. His fascinating stories and invaluable lessons on focusing on the human factors at play will forever change the way you think about—and most of all, prepare for—successful negotiations.

Relentlessness: How to Build a Great Team

First, you have to identify what kind of leader you are: Do you want to hire “spikes” or do you prefer a “generalist” approach to team building? How do you create a great team if your team members are all over the world? When you’re a small startup with less than 50 people, it’s easy to hire high-quality people who share the company’s values. But how do you keep the quality and values consistent when you’re not doing the hiring personally anymore? While working as Chief Business Officer for Uber, Emil was responsible for keeping the values consistent as he helped open Uber locations all over the world. In this insightful talk, Emil will share how he built a resilient culture of relentlessness. Audiences will come away learning how to develop a consistent process for hiring, how to communicate cultural values, how to adapt them to different countries, and, most importantly, how to manage a team full of spikes or a team of high-performing generalists.

Turning a Team From a Tribe Into a Civilization

When the survival of a start-up is its chief mission, the team you assemble and the values you adopt are tribal. There is much less focus on the individual employee and much more focus on the existential mission to grow the business. Every employee pitches in to put out fires and everyone gives their opinion on what to do next. You are the underdog and you need a tribal mentality to make it.

However, when the company has found a product that consumers want and how to deliver it efficiently, the company has to change. At that point, having structures, systems, and, yes, some ‘bureaucracy’ is needed. Jobs have to be more defined, processes to allocate capital efficiently, etc. The stakeholders become more diverse…and like any civilization, your concerns extend beyond survival. Usually, companies make this transition smoothly. However, in the hyper-competitive and hyper-growth areas in the tech segment, this change has to happen faster than is natural to do.  

Important, this maturation can’t go so fast that the company actually slows down and faces the Innovator’s Dilemma. This is the central challenge for high-growth companies in tech today.