Spent a weekend building an actual comp spreadsheet before my first negotiation instead of just guessing at a number

Almost went into the call with a vague 'somewhere around what I'm making now plus a bit more' number. Instead pulled data points from a few different sources, leveling guides, posted ranges for similar roles, a couple of numbers friends in adjacent companies shared, and built a rough range with a target and a walk-away number written down beforehand. Having actual numbers instead of a feeling made the conversation so much less nerve-wracking, felt like negotiating from evidence instead of nerve.