Bayle Shanks's website: tips-negotiation

i have some things of my own to say about negotiation but until i have some time to write them this article sounded good:

unfortunately i don't have much experience in negotation so my advice here may be worthless...

a lot of what i was going to say anyway is covered in the above. namely:

information is key
know exactly when you are willing to walk away (but don't let the other party know that)
don't negotiate piecemeal; hear the other party's entire offer (or all of their problems with your offer) before compromising on any point -- this way you can prioritize the points you care about and trade away points you don't care about
when you can, defer; don't put forward any proposal before you have to, because you might accidentally misjudge the scope of the other party's interest and offer something that the other party wouldn't have asked for
if it's important, then don't start negotiating before you talk to someone experienced in this sort of deal. Otherwise, you may give something away early that you didn't realize was important, and then be forced to compromise on too many other things in order to get it back when you change your mind. Also, without knowing what the 'standard' agreement looks like here and what the standard knobs are to be twiddled, you will be at a disadvantage.
if it's important, sleep on it between hearing an offer and sending your response. At the least, retreat to a room without the other guys present and talk it over with your side
be wary of negotiating against trained negotiators (VCs, lawyers) without one on your side