I just don't see the correlation, though. Your aptitude for being an engineering/technical leader need not be at all tied to your skill at negotiation. Those two things are very different skills. A place like HN should know that very well, as we often talk about the difference between soft skills and technical skills.

Personally I'm not a hard negotiator (though I'm willing to walk away if my -- generally not super aggressive -- number isn't met), but I tend to move myself into technical leadership positions fairly quickly when joining a new org.