Last week AOL Chair and CEO Tim Armstrong, a young and fast-talking executive of the new media, addressed the season’s first meeting of the Boston Association for Corporate Growth.  He spread witty anecdotes and hints of his view of the electronic future (“every traditional media company is a turn-around, they just don’t know it yet; AOL wants to be the arms dealer to the internet [providing content]”), but also set forth four rules for an effective acquisition (AOL has “traded $3 billion of assets in the last 24 months”):

*Do the Target’s Work.  Find a way to articulate and communicate the value of a deal to the other side and its board.

*Don’t be Stupid.  (Not sure I would have thought of that one….)  Don’t let anyone tell you that “this is the way this kind of deal works.”  Look at the situation and adapt your strategy, even fundamental approaches.

*Show Up.  Be politely in front of your target at all times.  Even socially or, it seems based on anecdotes, by contrived accident.  Don’t go home if you think you have a lock on the deal, as someone else may be waiting to turn the tide.

*Every deal needs a Coach.  He moves people in and out of deals based on the needs of the play, the synergies or lack of synergies with the counter-party.  There needs to be someone like a coach of a team measuring this aspect and reacting as needed.  He also likes having a team with widely divergent viewpoints at first,  to force examination of every aspect of a deal including risks.

Armstrong also counseled against trying to get the last dime out of a deal, making the winning of small points the end-all of negotiation.  Deals should not be adversarial.  How does he contribute to that desired atmosphere?  “I always start in the middle of the field,” avoiding extreme starting positions.