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PODCAST

Gentle Power

Gerta and Alex at YourNegotiations.com

Join Gerta Malaj & Alex Choi as they share negotiation playbooks, dissect real deals, and reveal life bootstrapping a husband-wife business in SF. As co-founders of YourNegotiations.com, they’ve added 5-6 figure raises to job offers and guided founders through investor, vendor, and customer negotiations - B2B contracts, fundraising, co-founder splits, and more. Gerta (MIT MEng, Wellesley Math) spent 10+ years at LinkedIn, Salary.com & VC firms. Alex, a USAF veteran, ran GTM for Meta’s #2

business careers

All Episodes

00:25:37

49. Can you outsource your negotiation to AI?

Gentle Power ·

2026/03/07

We get this question a lot: “Have you trained an AI on your negotiation framework?” or “Can I just follow a template?”The appeal is obvious. A clean script would be easier for everyone involved and much easier to scale.The problem is that negotiation doesn't really work that way.Every negotiation is different. Different people. Different incentives. Different timing. Different pressure points. Different cultures.In this episode, we talk about why negotiation is both a science and an art, and why

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00:54:50

48. Optionality has downsides and complexity

Gentle Power ·

2026/02/27

In this episode, we welcomed Yehong Zhu, founder and CEO of Zett AI. Yehong is a former Forbes reporter, a Harvard philosophy graduate, and a former product manager at X (formerly Twitter). We explored how her background across media, tech, and startups shapes the way she thinks about negotiation, decision making, and building companies that last.We covered: The “worst alternative” to a deal and the sushi conveyor belt problem of waiting too long for a better optionPoker as a decision framework:

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00:38:45

47. A personal brand is a negotiation asset

Gentle Power ·

2026/02/20

This week on Gentle Power, we sat down with Morgan Snyder for a candid conversation about executive content, personal brand, and the quiet factors that contribute to negotiation outcomes before a call even starts. We also get into what’s actually working on LinkedIn right now, why long-form still matters, and how to build relationships in a way that doesn’t feel like performance art, even though Morgan himself will post over-the-top content that mocks the status signalers.We covered:Why Morgan

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00:50:15

46. Preparation is overrated in negotiations

Gentle Power ·

2026/02/14

This week on Gentle Power, we sat down with Mark Mirra, CEO and co-founder of Aligned Negotiation, for a deep (and very practical) conversation on how to make negotiation feel less like “combat” and more like a normal life skill you can build over time. We covered:Why Mark thinks negotiation should be treated like a lifestyle activity, not a scary, high-stakes “event”Why internal negotiations (inside your company) often feel harder than external onesThe 4 negotiation types Mark teaches, and what

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00:56:54

45. A Japanese negotiation tactic we highly recommend

Gentle Power ·

2026/02/08

In this episode of Gentle Power, we sat down with Kenko Ueyama, cofounder of Tsubasa AI, an AI advisory agency that helps enterprise teams define their AI strategy and then actually build it. Kenko is also a senior advisor at Harvard Applied AI Institute, where he helps design AI coursework and leads executive workshops on navigating AI-driven change.We covered: How underpricing yourself lowers not just your margins, but how seriously your work is takenA deep dive into your “resentment number,”

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00:11:25

44. When a “no deal” is the best deal

Gentle Power ·

2026/01/30

In this episode of Gentle Power, we talk about “no deal” scenarios. Not as failures, but as real and often necessary outcomes that people tend to misunderstand, resist, or personalize.Most negotiation advice focuses on how to get to a deal. But a big part of negotiating well is knowing when there isn’t one. We explore why no deal happens, how to think about it strategically, and how zooming out can turn a disappointing outcome into the right one.We cover:Why no deal usually comes down to misaligned

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00:13:14

43. When they treat you disrespectfully

Gentle Power ·

2026/01/23

In this episode of Gentle Power, we unpack a situation that comes up often in our client work: navigating moments where you feel undervalued, dismissed, or treated aggressively by the other side. We talk about how to respond without escalating the situation, how to protect your leverage, and how to distinguish between a one-off bad interaction and a real red flag about the company.Our conversation covers:Why feeling disrespected during a job search is common, and why it hits harder than people

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00:24:01

42. Negotiation Lessons from a Minister of Finance...

Gentle Power ·

2026/01/16

We’re back this week with Part 2 of our conversation with Arben Malaj, former Minister of Finance of Albania, and also Gerta’s father.Quick recap: In his early 30s, Arben was tasked with stabilizing Albania’s economy during its 1997 financial crisis and civil war. His work put him across the table from institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and EU Commission, in negotiations where the power imbalance seemed insurmountable and the consequences of getting it wrong were enormous.In Part 2, we zoom in

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00:17:48

41. What intergovernmental negotiations look like...

Gentle Power ·

2026/01/09

In this week’s episode, Gerta sits down with her father, Arben Malaj, for a candid conversation about leadership under pressure, values-based negotiation, and what it looks like to take responsibility when everything is on the line. Arben is a prominent public figure in Albania and served as Minister of Finance during the country’s 1997 economic collapse, when pyramid schemes wiped out roughly half of Albania’s GDP and pushed the country into chaos.This is part one of the interview, focusing on

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00:19:46

40. What does being creative in negotiations look like?

Gentle Power ·

2026/01/02

This week, we talk about a type of negotiation most people deal with far more often than job offers: negotiating with hotels, airlines, and everyday services. The conversation was sparked by a real hotel booking situation that arose from Gerta’s upcoming MIT masterclass.Our conversation covers:Why everyday negotiations still benefit from a clear askHow light preparation works better than rigid scriptsHow human connection plays a role in low-stakes negotiationsWhat creativity looks like when you are

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01:17:43

39. What can negotiators learn from decision science...

Gentle Power ·

2025/12/26

This week, we’re sharing Gerta’s interview with Meredith Baker of the Powerful Stuff Podcast, a podcast for cheeky self-development. Their conversation is a refreshing reminder that negotiation doesn’t have to feel like a cage match. Gerta breaks down the mindset that makes negotiation work better (collaboration, goodwill, and even playfulness), plus a handful of tactics you can use immediately, whether you’re navigating comp, co-founder equity, rent, or just everyday life.Our conversation

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00:36:26

38. Negotiating in love and dating

Gentle Power ·

2025/12/16

Most weeks on Gentle Power, we talk about power dynamics in professional settings like job offers and negotiations. In this episode, we focus on negotiations in none other than… love and dating! We explore how vulnerability, power dynamics, and behavioral psychology shape connection and influence, often in ways people misunderstand.Our conversation covers:Vulnerability feels like weakness but it’s actually a strong marker of power People will like you more if you ask them for a favor - the Ben

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00:41:25

37. Real estate negotiations: making offers is how...

Gentle Power ·

2025/12/15

This week we sat down with our friend Victor Hsu, a New York - based real estate broker who works with global families, primarily Chinese, navigating the U.S. housing market. Victor’s perspective blends cultural nuance, decades of on-the-ground experience, and a front-row view into how real people behave when the stakes feel high. The overlap between real estate and hiring negotiations turned out to be even greater than we expected.Our conversation covers:How Victor’s client negotiated over $3M off

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00:41:35

37. Real estate negotiations: making offers is how...

Gentle Power ·

2025/12/09

This week we sat down with our friend Victor Hsu, a New York–based real estate broker who works with global families, primarily Chinese, navigating the U.S. housing market. Victor’s perspective blends cultural nuance, decades of on-the-ground experience, and a front-row view into how real people behave when the stakes feel high. The overlap between real estate and hiring negotiations turned out to be even greater than we expected.Our conversation covers:How Victor’s client negotiated over $3M off

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00:19:23

36. Why execs don’t win at negotiations

Gentle Power ·

2025/12/02

There’s one insight in our client work that many people would find surprising: mid-career professionals often land stronger increases, both in percentage terms and in absolute dollars, than do senior executives.At first glance, it feels counterintuitive. Senior leaders negotiate business deals, oversee large teams and budgets, and carry higher titles that signal experience and competence. But job offer negotiations draw on a different set of muscles, and the instincts that help people succeed at the

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00:48:13

35. Turning a job posting into a new client, and BTS...

Gentle Power ·

2025/11/25

This week we spoke with our friend Matt LeBaron, cofounder and CEO of Pocketbook. Matt helps large companies evaluate their software vendors, renegotiate contracts, and make smarter decisions about their tech stack. He also works as a part-time consultant with Adobe’s software procurement team.Our conversation covers:How Matt creatively turned a full-time job posting from Adobe into part-time client work for his businessWhy negotiations are more flexible than they appear, and how stated policies or

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00:45:00

34. Practicing saying no & smiling with your voice

Gentle Power ·

2025/11/21

This week on Gentle Power, we’re joined by Shawna Samuel, an executive consultant who focuses on supporting executive-working mothers in demanding roles. Shawna began her career in global finance, where she spent two decades shaping partnerships across the US and Europe. When she became a mother, the structure that had supported her career started to feel less stable. Her responsibilities grew while the available support didn’t grow with them, and she began questioning the default assumption that

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00:11:13

33. Have you tried IFS therapy? It can make you a...

Gentle Power ·

2025/11/14

This week on Gentle Power, we explore how Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy has changed the way we think about negotiations. The IFS school of thought is based on the idea that we all have different “parts” within us that try to protect us in different ways, and this framework offers surprising lessons for how we show up in high-stakes conversations.Our conversation covers:Why curiosity works better than confrontation when someone gets pushy or defensiveHow to stay grounded when you feel

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00:16:19

32. When you think you’re strengthening your...

Gentle Power ·

2025/11/07

In this episode, we break down one of the most overlooked negotiation traps: how people give away their leverage when they think they’re actually helping their case. From revealing salary history to competing offers to personal disclosures, even senior leaders can unintentionally anchor themselves low and limit their earning power.Our conversation covers:How one of our high performing, executive clients made a fatal mistake in their negotiations thinking they were actually helping their caseWhy

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00:25:14

31. How to negotiate when you were referred by...

Gentle Power ·

2025/10/31

In this episode, we discuss a common dilemma: how to negotiate when the job opportunity came through a referral. Many people hesitate to negotiate in these situations out of fear of seeming ungrateful or straining the relationship that helped them get in the door. We share how to approach these conversations without creating awkwardness or risking the relationship.Our conversation covers:Why a warm intro doesn't mean you can’t advocate for yourselfWhy keeping a pulse on your market value now

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51 results

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