Maverick Author
MATT REARDEN
Securities Lawyer, Former SeaWorld Executive & Strategic Partnership Expert
"The best negotiators don't sit on one side of the table. They move around it, sitting in every chair, until they find a way for everyone to win."
About Matt Rearden
Matt Reardon is a securities lawyer and business development executive who has closed billions in deals by rejecting traditional adversarial negotiation in favor of what he calls "the both-and game." After spending years as General Counsel and Vice President of Business Development at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and International Speedway Corporation, Matt accomplished what most considered impossible—switching major properties from Pepsi to Coca-Cola twice, negotiating a $2 billion theme park partnership with Abu Dhabi's royal family, and renewing SeaWorld's Sesame Street partnership during the company's most challenging period post-Blackfish.
Matt's negotiation philosophy comes from an unlikely place: watching his single mother—a hairdresser who became a successful business owner—instinctively find win-win solutions others couldn't see because they were stuck on their side of the table. She had the vision and relationship instinct. He brought legal training and risk management. That integration—seeing both sides of the table while protecting both sides—became the foundation of his approach to closing deals that others thought were dead on arrival.
Chapter: "Making Both Sides Win"
How Maverick Leaders Negotiate from the Other Side First
In his transformative chapter for Maverick Leadership, Matt Reardon reveals why most deals die before they ever close—and provides the exact framework that's closed billions in partnerships from NASCAR racetracks to Middle Eastern theme parks to brand deals everyone said wouldn't work. Through the story of negotiating with Sesame Workshop's CEO in a post-Blackfish world and his unprecedented success taking properties from Pepsi to Coca-Cola twice, Matt exposes the critical difference between lawyers who win arguments and mavericks who close deals.
Matt opens with 2014, one year after Blackfish turned SeaWorld toxic. Protesters lined up outside parks every weekend. The media painted them as villains. Their stock had tanked. And sitting across the table was Jeff Dunn—CEO of Sesame Workshop, Harvard Business School graduate, former Coca-Cola executive—trying to figure out how to tell his board why they should renew an eight-year licensing deal with the most controversial company in America. Matt had an entire theme park that depended on this relationship. Both sides needed each other desperately. But neither wanted to admit it.
"I knew that approach would kill this deal. So I did something different. Instead of staying on my side of the table defending SeaWorld's position, I got up—metaphorically at least—and sat on Jeff's side."
Through his four-principle framework—get up from your chair and sit in theirs, map every chair at the table, start closer to fair, and focus on closing not winning—Matt provides the system that separates those who fight over contract terms from those who build partnerships that create compounding value. The chapter culminates with a challenge rooted in his experience across corporate giants and small family businesses: "You can win one negotiation by being cutthroat. But you lose the next ten because nobody wants to work with you again. Or you can play the both-and game and watch opportunities compound over time."
What You'll Learn
The Both-Sides Framework: How to abandon the zero-sum game that kills deals and embrace the both-and approach that creates partnerships where everyone wins bigger together—and why understanding is more powerful than leverage
The Invisible Chairs Strategy: Why there are always more stakeholders at the table than the ones you can see, how to map every visible and invisible chair, and what each needs to say "yes"
The Fair-First Approach: How starting closer to fair flips the entire table game, closes deals in 30-45 days instead of six months, and signals something powerful that sophisticated partners respond to in kind
From Arguments to Partnerships: The critical distinction between winning points and closing deals—and why the best deals are ones you sign, put in a drawer, and never look at again because both sides are executing well
The Relationship Capital Principle: What it really means to play the long game in negotiation, why getting recruited by people you negotiated against proves the approach works, and how opportunities compound when you focus on partnerships over wins
Three Transformative Takeaways:
1. Get Up From Your Chair and Sit in Theirs
Before you negotiate anything—before you present terms, before you make demands, before you even think about what you want—you need to get up from your chair and sit in theirs. Not metaphorically. Actually do it. Physically imagine getting up from your side of the table, walking around, and sitting in their chair. From that chair, looking back at yourself and your position, what do you see? What do they need? What does winning look like from their perspective? When Matt sat in Coca-Cola's chair before pitching the NASCAR and SeaWorld switches, he didn't see a beverage deal—he saw unique marketing moments and brand experiences that money couldn't buy. That insight closed deals worth billions.
2. Start Closer to Fair (Flip the Table Game)
The standard negotiating approach is positional. You stake out a position way over on your side. They do the same. Everyone knows you'll "meet in the middle," so you start with demands you don't actually need, planning to concede them later. It's a game. Everyone knows it's a game. And it wastes time. Mavericks flip the table game entirely. They come out closer to where they'll actually end up. They start closer to fair. When you start fair, you signal something powerful: "I'm not playing games. I actually want this done." And sophisticated partners respond in kind. Deals that used to take six months close in 30-45 days. Fewer revisions. Fewer arguments. Partnerships that start strong instead of starting adversarial.
3. Focus on Closing, Not Winning Points
Here's the fundamental difference between how lawyers think and how mavericks think: Lawyers ask, "What can I win?" Mavericks ask, "What does it take to close this?" Those aren't the same question. Before arguing about any point, ask yourself: "Will this prevent the deal from closing?" If yes: Fight for it. If no: Let it go. That's the filter. Everything else is noise. The best deals are ones you sign and put in a drawer and never look at again because both sides are executing well, creating value together, and the relationship is strong enough that nobody needs to argue about clauses.
Matt’s Impact
Matt's leadership extends beyond his corporate dealmaking success to his practical application of these principles in managing and selling his family's mobile home park business, proving the framework works across industries and deal sizes. His expertise in complex negotiations, stakeholder mapping, and building partnerships that create compounding value has made him a sought-after advisor for executives who need to close deals that others consider impossible. One former counterparty who negotiated against Matt for years later recruited him to join his team—the ultimate proof that relationship capital compounds.
Connect with Matt Rearden
LinkedIn: Matt Rearden
Instagram: @mwr_esq
