> Throwing out a higher number you believe in is not destroying the deal, that’s just Jobs being a dick. From the thread the difference was when he followed up

> Throwing out a higher number you believe in is not destroying the deal, that’s just Jobs being a dick. From the thread the difference was when he followed up his "I think we're worth $150M" with a corrected "I know we're worth $150M". Jobs probably balked at the "I know" part because he knew Apple was one of less than 5 companies that had tons of extra cash in a financial crisis (2008) and had the strategic alignment to make the acquisition. Plus Jobs undoubtedly already had internal estimates for cloning the company. I don't think Jobs was being a dick, I think Jobs was just defining a strong negotiating point by telling this young entrepreneur that he sets the market price for acquisitions, not the startup. Sometimes aggression is a good negotiating tactic. They apparently continued to negotiate after that, so it wasn't like it killed the deal. Thinking you're worth 3x what your investors and your target acquirer thinks you're worth is what kills the deal.