What is Alternatives?

Alternatives is a mental model used for better thinking and decision-making.

How do you apply Alternatives?

To apply Alternatives, identify situations where this framework is relevant, then use it as a lens to evaluate your options and decisions. The model is most useful when combined with other complementary mental models.

What category does Alternatives fall under?

Alternatives falls under the Business & Strategy category of mental models. Other models in this category can be found on the Business & Strategy hub page.

Why is Alternatives important?

Alternatives is important because it provides a structured way to think about problems that would otherwise be approached with intuition alone. Understanding this model helps you avoid common reasoning errors and make better decisions.

Alternatives Mental Model: Definition…

Alternatives Mental Model: Definition… | Faster Than Normal

Section 2

How to See It

Strategy

You're seeing Alternatives when a decision doc or discussion explicitly lists options A, B, C and compares them (or names the next-best alternative) instead of defending a single path.

Negotiation

You're seeing Alternatives when a party anchors or walks based on a clear "best alternative" — e.g. another buyer, building in-house, or walking away — rather than on hope or attachment to the current deal.

Section 3

How to Use It

Before committing, name the next-best alternative and compare. In negotiation, improve your BATNA or reduce the other side's so the zone of possible agreement tilts your way.

Decision filter

"What is my best alternative to saying yes here? If I can't state it, I'm deciding in the dark. If I can, I know when to walk and when to close."

As a founder

Use alternatives in hiring (vs. other candidates, vs. delay), in partnerships (vs. build vs. another partner), and in fundraising (vs. other terms, vs. extending runway). Write down the next-best alternative before signing.

Section 5

Founders & Leaders

Herb CohenNegotiator; author, You Can Negotiate Anything

Cohen stressed knowing your walk-away and your best alternative before any negotiation. "It's all negotiable" only works when you know what you're comparing the deal to. Founders can apply this to term sheets, partnerships, and key hires by always clarifying their best alternative.

Section 7

Connected Models

Reinforces

BATNA

BATNA is your best alternative to a negotiated agreement. "Alternatives" is the broader frame — all options; BATNA is the specific benchmark that defines your walk-away point and leverage.

Tension

Opportunity [Cost](/mental-models/cost)

Opportunity cost is the value of the best forgone alternative. Thinking in alternatives surfaces it; the tension is that we often ignore opportunity cost until we name the alternative explicitly.

Leads-to

Trade-offs

Comparing alternatives forces trade-offs: more of X means less of Y. The Alternatives lens leads directly to "what are we trading off?" and makes the cost of the chosen path visible.

Section 8

One Key Quote

"Your BATNA is the only standard that can protect you from both accepting a deal you should reject and rejecting a deal you should accept."
— Roger Fisher & William Ury, Getting to Yes (1981)

Section 11

Summary & Further Reading

Alternatives are the other options against which you choose. Name them, especially your best one (BATNA), so you know when to say yes and when to walk.

Getting to Yes — Roger Fisher & William Ury (1981)

Book

Introduces BATNA and interest-based negotiation; the standard reference for alternatives in deal-making.

Never Split the Difference — Chris Voss (2016)

Book

Tactical negotiation with emphasis on leverage and alternatives from a former FBI negotiator.

Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman (2011)

Book

How we underweight alternatives and opportunity cost; supports deliberate alternative-thinking.

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