What if the outcome of every negotiation was decided long before anyone said a word?

Most people believe negotiation is won by charisma, quick thinking, or sheer nerve. It isn't. In At the Table, Mateo Salvas reveals the hidden game beneath every deal, dispute, and difficult conversation — the layer of interests, fears, and real power that determines who walks away satisfied and who leaves value on the table without ever knowing it.

Drawing on decades of research and real-world cases — from the Cuban Missile Crisis to a divorcing couple at the kitchen table — this book shows that the strongest predictor of success isn't personality. It's preparation, perspective, and the discipline to look beneath the loudest demand to what people actually want.



Inside, you'll discover:



- Why most negotiations are won or lost before the conversation begins — and how to prepare like the professionals

- How to move past positions and uncover the real interests driving the other side

- The art of expanding the pie so both sides gain more than a simple compromise

- How to anchor agreements in fair standards instead of raw willpower

- How to define your walk-away point and negotiate from steadiness, not fear

- Proven ways to defuse pressure tactics, dirty tricks, and bad-faith players

Learn to see both games at once — and start deciding outcomes instead of accepting them.



Mateo Salvas is a writer and consultant of Spanish-Argentine background who specializes in decoding the hidden rules by which organizations, markets, and human communities actually operate. He studied cultural anthropology and the behavioral sciences at a leading U.S. university and earned a doctorate in the sociology of organizations. For more than ten years he worked as a field researcher and consultant, observing from the inside how entrepreneurs, politicians, artists, negotiators, and executives operate across different countries — noting which rules they state aloud and which ones they actually follow. This work gave rise to his central idea: in any human situation, two games are being played at once — the surface game named by rulebooks and policies, and the deep game of real power, incentives, and unwritten rules. Through his "Deep Game Method," he teaches readers to see both layers at once and to read the true distribution of power in any situation. Today he runs a private practice for entrepreneurs and executives and writes books about how an adult comes to see the world as it actually is.



1. Why Most Negotiations Fail Before They Begin

2. The Trap of Bargaining Over Demands

3. Seeing the Human Across the Table

4. Digging Beneath Demands to Find What People Actually Want

5. Expanding the Pie: Generating Options That Serve Both Sides

6. Anchoring the Deal in Fair Standards, Not Willpower

7. Knowing Your Walk-Away Point

8. Handling the Negotiator Who Refuses to Play Fair

9. Defusing Pressure Tactics and Dirty Tricks

10. Negotiating Across Cultures and Digital Channels

11. Case Studies: From Boardrooms to Kitchen Tables

12. Building a Lifelong Practice of Principled Agreement



Stop losing deals you never knew you were losing.