[espinchi]

The key for a successful negotiation is to have leverage. In this particular case, it looks as if the founder of this startup needed the acquisition to happen. Otherwise, when The Company refused the official term sheet, or when they noticed any other smelly things down the road, they could've halted until that detail was sorted out, or even canceled the negotiations.

The conclusion in the last paragraph of the (highly enjoyable, btw) story goes in this direction, but it's a bit optimistic: the real lesson learned is this: get your business to a level of success where you don’t care if the deal falls through. Get profitable. Get such amazing user growth you have investors begging to put in money. Well, I wish it was that easy!