There's a great post on the Harvard Business Review blog called "Should Entrepreneurs Lie?"
Chris Dixon tweeted it, saying "is this a joke? of course they'd shouldn't."
But everyone knows the reality is more complex, so I'm calling this "When Should Entrepreneurs Lie?"
Many times entrepreneurs lie because they expect that the people they're talking to will discount what they're saying in any case. This seems to be generally considered acceptable. The first time I did work for a startup I helped them sell advertising. I was shocked (shocked!) to discover that we weren't actually charging what we claimed we would charge. Our rate card was just a guideline, or rather a basis for a negotiation (and never negotiate up). And in fact, this is standard practice for selling online ads.
And of course there are many more businesses where nobody pays the list price. Consultants and investment bankers, especially in the wake of the econopocalypse, don't get paid what they claim to charge. Some of the big hushed stories are about the heavy discount such or such veeeery prestigious firm took to get a gig that would supposedly be beneath them.
To read the full, original article click on this link: When Should Entrepreneurs Lie?
Author: Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry
