Some say that the ability to make a good deal is intuitive; others insist that negotiation skills can be taught. What is clear is that some people are better than others at closing a sale, whether it’s for a house or a multi-million dollar company.So what makes the difference?

‘Test your own thinking’ | Tabcorp chair Paula Dwyer faced some big challenges as the company’s bid to become a $10 billion gaming behemoth stretchedover 14 months in 2016 and 2017.

‘You have to be bold’ | It was known as Project Darwin, a deal that would change the balance of power in the global aviation industry. It was conceivedin May 2012, when Qantas boss Alan Joyce and his executive team took a drive west of Sydney to stay at the luxurious Wolgan Valley Resort.

‘You need to look for red flags’ | Deal-making is in Nick Crocker’s DNA, in his roots as a start-up founder and now as an investor with one of Australia’s mostsuccessful venture capital firms, Blackbird Ventures.

‘Leave your ego out of it’ | Jo Horgan opened her first Mecca Cosmetica store using every cent she had and has not looked back.

‘Live it, eat it, dream it’ | Frank Lowy says doing deals is ‘good for the soul’.

‘You have to be persistent’ | Not many telco executives have crossed swords with David Teoh and come out smiling. David Yuile is one of them.

‘I had a $15 million debt’ | All Radek Sali wanted to do after pulling off the sale of vitamin group Swisse in 2015 was head home for his wife’s chicken soup.

‘All was not what it seemed’ | It was one of the most important deals of James Packer’s life, but the Barangaroo win came at a huge personal cost.

‘I love the puzzle’ | Janine Allis relishes a deal, but she reckons there’s a right way and wrong way to go into the process.

‘I’ve done a lot of bad deals’ | Gordon Cairns says the two great questions a business faces are where to compete and how to win.

A meeting of minds | For a veteran television producer attuned to the entertainment tastes of everyday Australians, Nick Murray has a surprisingly quantitative rule of thumb when it comes to mergers and acquisitions.

Worst deals of the decade | Timing was everything in the top deals of the past 10 years.

‘You really have to want it’ | The verb to be “Adlerised” has entered the lexicon of at least some writers worn down by Louise Adler’s determination to signthem up to a deal.

Michael Casey is trying to make the bitcoin world respectable again.

What makes a perfect deal? | Bad due diligence, hubris, and a few inspired plays: Robert Gottliebsen has seen it all.

How to get to yes | Most people have learnt that it’s not enough to rely on good will, a nice smile or the list price. So, we’reborrowing from the corporate playbook.

How Lincoln did the deal | Do the times make the leader, or does the leader shape the times? Abraham Lincoln makes for a fascinating case study.

‘Money? I hate it’ | Paul Smith calls it “corporate depression”. And he says it hit him hard after he sold his sports data and consulting firm Repucom in a $US195 million deal.

When push comes to shove | Through his book, The Art of the Deal, and his reality TV show The Apprentice, Donald Trump has marketed himself as the ultimate deal-maker.