Nia BowersNegotiation and dispute resolution specialist Sebastián Santander examines how assumptions, incentives, and alternatives shape business and investment decisions. His perspective brings together legal experience in Ecuador, graduate training at Columbia University, and professional work through Santander Capital.
Sebastián Santander approaches negotiation as a process of examining interests, assumptions, and alternatives before parties commit to an agreement. His work focuses on negotiation and dispute resolution as they apply to business and investment transactions.
He emphasizes how uncertainty, incentives, and differing expectations can influence an agreement’s terms and become potential sources of conflict.
Negotiation in Business and Investment Decisions
That focus extends beyond a price or valuation. Parties may agree on a headline number while holding different expectations about responsibilities, timing, or future commitments. Santander’s approach considers the implications of negotiated agreements alongside the alternatives available if the parties do not reach a deal.
For illustration, a hypothetical investment negotiation might involve a founder seeking funding and an investor seeking evidence for a valuation. The parties could examine growth assumptions, compare alternative funding arrangements, and clarify reporting obligations. Those questions connect the proposed price to the commitments that would follow an agreement.
Applying Expert Judgment to AI Evaluation
Through Santander Capital, Santander contributes investment banking subject-matter expertise to AI evaluation projects involving Mercor. His work includes reviewing AI-generated financial and business reasoning, examining underlying assumptions, and evaluating whether conclusions are supported by the information provided.
This work draws on analytical skills that are also central to negotiation: identifying relevant interests, testing assumptions, considering alternatives, and assessing uncertainty. His contribution is to evaluate the reasoning and explain the basis for his conclusions.
A Foundation in Law, Education, and Leadership
Santander earned a Master of Science in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution from Columbia University. He previously served as president of the Columbia Venture Capital & Entrepreneurship Group. Santander developed and organized Lions Roar, a Columbia University negotiation and dispute resolution competition, bringing students together to demonstrate and develop their negotiation skills. In 2026, he was elected president of Columbia’s Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Alumni Association.
A 2025 recap published by the group describes students from across Columbia taking part in an online preliminary round followed by in-person finals, with judges evaluating their negotiations and giving feedback. The format gave participants a setting in which to prepare, negotiate, and have their decisions assessed.
His legal background in Ecuador complements his graduate training in negotiation and his current work in expert evaluation.
Alongside his professional work, Santander shares educational content on negotiation, business, investing, and entrepreneurship through Instagram and TikTok, explaining professional concepts to a broader audience.
Final Thoughts
Across negotiation and expert evaluation, Sebastián Santander’s work emphasizes a common discipline: understanding the assumptions, incentives, and alternatives behind a decision. In business and investment transactions, that means looking beyond headline terms to the obligations, uncertainties, and potential sources of conflict that may shape what happens after an agreement is signed.