Staircase Deal Model
A negotiation strategy employed by President Trump where the first party to agree to a deal gets the best terms, creating a sense of urgency for other parties to negotiate quickly before the terms become less favorable.
First Mentioned
1/9/2026, 4:44:56 AM
Last Updated
1/9/2026, 4:47:49 AM
Research Retrieved
1/9/2026, 4:47:49 AM
Summary
The Staircase Deal Model is a strategic negotiation framework utilized by the Trump Administration, as detailed by US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, designed to incentivize international trade partners by offering the most favorable terms to those who reach agreements earliest. This first-mover strategy has been applied to secure trade deals with the United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, and Europe, while penalizing late-comers like India, who missed the window for optimal terms. The model serves as a central pillar in a broader economic agenda to eliminate the US trade deficit through country-specific tariffs and to leverage industrial policy, such as the CHIPS Act, to compel significant domestic manufacturing investments from companies like TSMC. By contrasting this proactive approach with state-subsidized models like China's, the administration aims to drive US GDP growth toward a target of 5-6% by 2026 while reinforcing national self-sufficiency.
Referenced in 1 Document
Research Data
Extracted Attributes
Proponent
Howard Lutnick
Core Tactic
Rewarding early negotiation partners with superior terms
Primary Goal
Correcting the US trade deficit
Key Instrument
Country-specific tariffs
Success Metric
5-6% GDP growth by 2026
Nvidia Export Fee
25% for H200 GPU sales to China
Japan Investment Fund
$550 billion
TSMC Arizona Investment
Increased from $60 billion to over $165 billion
Associated Administration
Trump Administration
Annual Fraud Reclamation Goal
$1 trillion
Timeline
- Target date for achieving 5-6% GDP growth through the administration's economic strategy including the Staircase Deal Model. (Source: Howard Lutnick: How America Can Hit 6% GDP Growth in 2026)
2026-12-31
Wikipedia
View on WikipediaKapamilya, Deal or No Deal
Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal is a Philippine television game show broadcast by ABS-CBN and Kapamilya Channel. The show is based on the Netherlands game show Miljoenenjacht. Originally hosted by Kris Aquino, it aired for the first season from June 5, 2006 to February 23, 2007, and was replaced by Pinoy Big Brother: Season 2. The second season aired from June 11, 2007 to January 11, 2008 and was replaced by Wheel of Fortune. The third season aired from July 28, 2008 to March 27, 2009, replacing Wheel of Fortune and was replaced by Pinoy Bingo Night. The fourth season aired from February 25, 2012 to September 28, 2013, replacing Junior MasterChef Pinoy Edition and was replaced by the first season of Bet on Your Baby. The fifth season aired from February 9, 2015 to March 4, 2016, replacing the second season of Bet on Your Baby and was replaced by Game ng Bayan. Luis Manzano serve as the most recent host. The smallest prize has always been ₱1, but the grand prize has always varied; the top prize at the show's last airing was ₱1,000,000. The first season premiered on June 5, 2006, of the show was supposed to be a three-month stint, to give way to another Endemol-produced program Pinoy Dream Academy, but its immense popularity caused the show to be extended to a nine-month long season, the first season concluded with 190 episodes on February 23, 2007. The second season premiered on June 11, 2007, and was supposed to end on September 21, 2007, of the same year. Once again, the show's success amongst viewers resulted in an extended season, a new timeslot on September 24, 2007, and lead programming for the evening news; the second season concluded with 155 episodes on January 11, 2008. After a six-month hiatus, the third season of the show premiered on July 28, 2008, and became the first to be broadcast in TFC's North American Feed. The third and original series of the program ended on March 27, 2009. After a nearly three-year hiatus, the show returned on February 25, 2012, with Luis Manzano as host. Original presenter Kris Aquino further elaborated that she could not return to host the show as she was having earlier due to her upcoming commitments with Kris TV and taping conflicts with Kailangan Ko'y Ikaw. Considered as a continuation of the original series, this fourth season lasted until September 28, 2013, and had noticeable changes in gameplay, and in scheduling, airing only on Saturdays, as opposed to weekdays like the three previous seasons. The fifth season of the show premiered on February 9, 2015, after numerous teasers hitting of the show's return, with further changes to gameplay (to be mentioned below). On January 25, 2016, Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal became Barangay Edition. The fifth season ended on March 4, 2016. On July 29, 2025, it was announced through a teaser that the show will return with Manzano reprising as host. The sixth season will premiere in 2026.
Web Search Results
- Is the Staircase Model a Strategy? - - Arkaro
Skip to content Menu Close # Is the Staircase Model a Strategy? by Mark Blackwell, Arkaro (mark@arkaro.com) Staircase models are popular for breaking an overall high-level aspiration into sequential milestones, sometimes yearly. Staircases are a type of roadmap. The following figure shows a staircase for the launch and then the success of a new product line X. Staircases like this, however, could apply to any endeavour. Sometimes organizations present staircases as their strategy. Can they be strategies? Try the disqualifiers to test the strategy; [...] affiliated partner to deliver to help product line and business teams design and implement adaptive strategies. [...] Even though staircases cannot be strategies, they can provide value. Like all roadmaps, staircases are simulations of the future. These simulations can be reality tested during strategy framework design by asking, for instance, if the various function such as R&D, production, and marketing can meet these timelines. Achievement of the staircase can also be tracked with milestone metrics. These are elements of the Strategy Framework to be covered in future articles! Arkaro is the first affiliate partner to deliver Dr Pete Compo’s Emergent Approach to Strategy™. By facilitating strategy development with your team Arkaro’s approach accelerates its implementation. Please contact Arkaro to discuss more.
- What is the Staircase Model? - Orion Development Group
#### Staircase Model and Business Process Blueprinting The business environment is changing rapidly. You must adapt. Orion can streamline your operations and create a strategy for improving or transforming your critical value chains. Learn More> #### Classroom Training Orion teaches leadership development courses at universities from coast to coast. We can customize that curriculum and bring it to your team. Learn More> #### eLearning Looking for personal development of your business process management skills? Orion teaches live virtual seminars and has a library of self-paced webinars. Learn More > ## How the Staircase Model Works The Staircase Model is used to evaluate the “why” for every major process. [...] Business Process Mapping and Improvement Experts Since 1993 BPM Consulting & Training ## Eliminate Unneeded Processes – Then Transform Every organization has legacy processes that have outlived their usefulness. Don’t make the mistake of thinking new IT will eliminate this inefficiency! Orion’s Staircase Model® helps you challenge each major business process in your organization and determine which should be eliminated, redesigned or automated. Orion has successfully applied this model to cut process count by as much as 57% and increase capacity up to 40%. ServicesExample ## Consulting Services and Training Orion can help you quickly build the right strategy and create self-sufficiency by training an internal team of strategy management experts. [...] It identifies processes that have no justifiable purpose in the future state of your organization. It also identifies: Your most important business processes Key business processes that should be improved, transformed or automated Necessary non-value-adding processes that should be streamlined Non-core processes that should be further assessed In the simplified example, a pension organization is evaluating its customer education processes. Education is currently being delivered at headquarters, online and at remote locations. Stair 1 – Customer education is core to the mission. Classes at HQ have proven highly effective and are well attended. There are some opportunities for improvement. This manner of education must continue. Move to the next stairstep with online and remote.
- [PDF] Staircases to growth - McKinsey
STAIRCASES TO GROWTH 50 THE McKINSEY QUARTERLY 1996 NUMBER 4 Exhibit 4 Potential elements of a capability platform Business-specific core competences Growth-enabling competences Privileged assets Special relationships Capability platform Acquisition Financing, risk management, and deal structuring Regulatory management Capital productivity enhancement Brands Networks Intellectual property Infrastructure Information Licenses Access-conveying Capability-complementing Business-specific competences. Successful growers are good at what they do and have skills that make them distinctive. Disney, for example, possesses unmatched competence in character design and animation; since 1928 and the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie, Disney has led its industry. This has been the foundation [...] 31 ~50 22 25 21 30 27 15 75 24 55 27 11 22 10 90† 50 19 9 7 7 Company Industry Growth period Country of origin Sales (CAGR%) Total returns to shareholders (CAGR%) form of a staircase of manageable steps. While few – if any – single steps are dramatic in and of themselves, linking them together as a staircase of sequential growth achieves results that definitely are. None of these companies will say that, looking forward, they had perfect foresight of where the steps would lead. On the other hand they will say that each time they climbed a few they felt they had institutionalized a new set of capabilities, created new business options, and carved a competitive position for themselves that was beyond their reach when they stood at the bottom of the staircase. [...] Special relationships. Relationships are one of great growers’ most impor-tant – but least talked about – capabilities, as Li Ka Shing’s unrivalled position in China demonstrates. They may provide access to deals and financing, or bring complementary skills needed to develop an opportunity. The access that carefully cultivated relationships open up is important not only in emerging markets. Bombardier, a Canadian snowmobile maker that has become the world’s fourth-largest aircraƒt manufacturer, owes much to the strategic importance of its relationships. Building on a platform of operational excellence in other transportation manufacturing markets, Bombardier’s staircase of growth in aerospace has relied on strong strategic partnerships with other aerospace technology leaders. This network
- How to make your first $10k from SaaS with the Stair Step Method
6 Like Comment To view or add a comment, sign in Rayan Gherz Eddine Early Traction Story Architect for Pre-Seed Founders | Building Authority & Trust with Human-First Narratives (Attract Premium Clients Without Posting Daily) + Report this post [...] 5 Like Comment To view or add a comment, sign in Sebastian Sanchez CEO @ August Marketing | Helping online brands scale with Engine Room Marketing - $560M+ revenue generated across 70+ brands | Marketing built to convert - not just impress. + Report this post [...] 5 5 Comments Like Comment To view or add a comment, sign in ProfitBlue 2 followers + Report this post
- The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping - Rob Walling
While some percentage of your customers will churn, this model gives you incredible leverage to grow your business — if you’re providing a good product, you will retain the vast majority of your sales month over month. That’s a big part of the reason why SaaS is so popular with bootstrappers. But the other side of the SaaS coin is that there’s a long ramp to any kind of substantial revenue, which is why I recommend you complete steps 1 and 2 before moving to this step. [...] I don’t think HitTail or Drip would have taken off if they were my first projects — I don’t know that I would have had the time, money, skills, or confidence to give them what they needed to succeed. ### Moonshots The tech media likes to focus on moonshots because they’re exciting, but their focus on the 1-in-10,000 that work means they ignore the hoards of people who have tried and failed because they try to play in the NFL before they’ve learned basic blocking and tackling. There is no guarantee that The Stair Step Approach will help you launch a successful product right out of the gate, but based on patterns I’m seeing in the bootstrapper community it’s a nice, low-risk path to a successful software company. [...] I call it The Stair Step Approach. After fully fleshing it out in my talks at DCBKK and MicroConf Europe last fall, I’ve been struck repeatedly by how many successful bootstrappers have followed, or are currently following, this trajectory. The interesting part is that my own path moving from consulting to products followed the same steps, as you can see in my product revenue chart from the past decade: Each revenue jump is when I made the move to the next step of the Stair Step Approach. I decided it was time to put pen to paper and lay out what I see as a repeatable path with a higher-than-normal success rate, to bootstrapping yourself to the point of quitting your job. Here’s how it works: ### Step 1: Your First Product