So you have a great idea for a business — and everyone will be out to steal it if you are not careful. So you protect your idea at all costs.
The problem is that there are people you will need to trust, because without their help and assistance your idea will never become a business.
In my column this week at the Tennessean I offer some advice on how to protect your ideas while still getting the help you will need.
And remember that in the end it is not the idea that will bring you success, but your ability to execute on that idea:
Always keep in mind that success comes from sound execution and implementation much more than the idea itself. Ideas can be a dime a dozen. Even if someone does steal your idea, it doesn’t mean that they can make a successful business out of it.
Ultimately, success comes from the ability to secure needed resources, build the right team and understand the market and your potential customers.
NDAs… There are appropriate and inappropriate times to use these, and they can quickly devolve into an exercise in asserting power. You suggest only using with potential investors and not with professionals, which seems reasonable.
My experience in the software industry has shown me that large companies don’t bother with NDAs unless the product is really, really cool and they want you as a “partner”. Win/win. Small companies fall into two camps. Some demand NDAs for everything and take offense if you won’t play the game. Others are confident enough in their execution not to poison relationships before they start or actually take advantage of people who like to network and talk. If you know you’re good, just avoid them. Anyone who really needs you will bend on formal NDAs.
A related protection document is the “non-compete”. As an employee, consult a lawyer for $250 before signing one. In many states, you can’t be compelled to and can even sue the employer is not signing in any away affects your employment of advancement. As an employer, understand how enforceable they really are when rubber meets the road and what they cost to enforce. Today, there was news that Mark Cuban (Dallas Maverick’s onwer) is using the non-compete card in an arbitration case brought by Don Nelson (former Mavs employee, now Warriors coach). This will end worse for Cuban for bringing it up. No matter what salary level someone is at, and no matter what agreement is in place beforehand, juries ultimately do not like the idea of an employee being enslaved in perpetuity to an employer by a contract. Non-competes are a great bullying tactic against the oblivious and the naive, but that’s pretty much where they end.