In this episode, we’re joined by corporate attorney and SaaS dealmaker, Omeed Tabiei, whose career spans Hyperloop’s moonshot years, two startups of his own, and now a boutique legal firm that helps software founders from incorporation to exit. We dig into how negotiation really works across the startup lifecycle: pricing your services, converting cold outreach into warm relationships, and protecting leverage when buyers come knocking.
We cover:
Why everything is a negotiation, from scoping legal work to structuring M&As
How Omeed turns cold leads warm: identify motivations, give value up front, and keep a seat at the table
How founders lose leverage in exits and how to run a competitive process
Decoding offers beyond the headline price: stock, holdbacks, working-capital adjustments, taxes
Guardrails for buyer diligence: phased NDAs, term sheets first, and when to use breakup fees
We also share:
Bazaar-born instincts: a dad who made every purchase a negotiation (and how that translates stateside)
The inside story of Hyperloop’s rise and lessons from raising nine-figure capital on a moonshot
Omeed's journey: starting two companies, navigating a co-founder dispute, and returning to law to help founders succeed
“Gentle power” here means pairing clear asks with real empathy: protect your leverage, lead with value, and move every conversation toward fair, durable agreements, for both sides.
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