Secure Your Ideas… January 21, 2007
Posted by eCommando in : eMarketing , trackbackIn a recent meetup I held, I had several people approach me with ideas for products. Now, this is not a rare occurrence, it happens every month at each of my meetups. However, most were surprised by my response…
“Don’t tell me anything.”
I said to her “Until you have a non-disclosure in hand, have the idea documented and ready to go, don’t tell anyone who isn’t willing to sign the non-disclosure any details of your idea, even your friends and family.”
The fact is, truly good ideas are very, VERY rare. They do occur, however, and more times than not, the originator of the idea tells everyone they know in order to gauge the viability of the idea.
One person in particular had an interesting idea and she had shared with me another interesting idea the week before without getting any sort of non-disclosure from me or anyone else she shared it with. Chances are, nobody else in the group had any interest in it as she’s in a vertical market.
However, since the product needed to be manufactured, all that had to happen was for one enterprising member of the group to make a phone call to a friend in the manufacturing biz and BAM! It’s all over.
I try to foster an atmosphere of sharing at the Dallas Internet Entrepreneurs meetup, and for the most part people are open and sharing with ideas that help each other, in the hope that it will be reciprocated.
That said, I personally urge everyone reading this to only tell your ideas to those who are willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and you can get them at your local office supply store.
If they’re not willing to sign, you shouldn’t put your ideas, or your future livelihood at risk.
Trust, but verify.
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