make sure you get something out of it. Think of the common situation when a friend comes up and says – ‘hey.. do you know anyone who might wanna buy tickets to this movie for a discounted rate as am not going and looking to sell them off..’. And there you go – messaging or calling up a bunch of friends and eventually you find a person willing. An example of a win-win situation. Everyone is happy..
But, hey, what about you? I don’t buy altruism. I have been accused of having a very cynical view of the world at times(yes, at times..!:)) but hey, what’s the benefit of creating this win-win – making a friend happy etc. Some might say that’s the point. Do something good but lets escalate this to a multi million dollar deal. Imagine you were the middle man here and help a friend gain 100 million dollars in investment. Still happy to play the altruist?
Solution: Structure a success fee and implement it for ALL deals!
I learnt this when I connected a friend to a guy selling cheap F1 tickets for 55 dollars. Both were happy and then I just sent a message to the ticket seller guy saying hey- how about giving me 5 bucks and the guy called up and said- why didn’t you ask at first? I would have priced it at 60!
Voila! So simple..
Anyway, if you just realized you should have done this, its fine – do it next time. Atleast get an assurance from your happy friend that he has a treat lined up from you.. So, I’m hoping he keeps his end of the deal for now! :)
A Learning a Day 