Shut Up & Tell Everybody
Working on a startup idea? Here’s why you should tell the world.
“Stealth mode is for fighter jets, not startups. Stop worrying that someone will steal your idea. Start worrying that nobody will care about it.”
I love this quote by Darmesh Shah and wish I had it on the tip of my tongue last week while being asked for advice from a bright-eyed, bushy tailed, aspiring entrepreneur.
She was excited about her idea and had just incorporated her company. (It seemed early, but okay.)
She wanted advice on marketing her product. (I was speaking at a marketing meetup, so makes sense.)
She had a patent pending. (Uh oh.)
Since the patent was still pending, she wouldn’t tell me her idea. She was worried someone would steal it.
Seriously!?
Dan Martell, founder of Clariy.fm put it best when he said, “Sharing your idea is critical in success. You’ll learn faster and that’s the number one thing you can do to increase your probability of success.”
Why You Should Tell People (especially if you’re asking for advice)
Asking someone for advice on your startup without telling them what you’re doing is like “asking them for directions without telling them where you’re going” according to Matt Roberts from BDC Venture Capital. It’s a complete waste of your time and that of the person you’re asking.
In order to help you, people need context. They need to understand your thesis, who your potential customers are, what you’re doing and why. What’s the problem you’re trying to solve?
Anyone who tries to give advice without understanding these things will be making sweeping generalizations that might do more harm than good.
Keeping your startup idea a secret not only makes it impossible for people to help you, but it also makes it impossible for you to conduct effective customer development.
Talking about your idea is important, but so is talking to the right people. Forget your friends and family. Talk to potential customers. Make sure you ask about their problem and validate that your idea will solve a pain point for them.
Reality Check: Your Idea Doesn’t Matter
Your idea is (almost) worthless. What matters most is execution. I feel like a broken record since this has been written about by very smart people here, here and here. And Brad Feld offers a more nuanced take on it here.
In fact, let me google that for you and you’ll see plenty of other content about the topic.
The overarching takeaway is that, regardless of how good your idea might be, the execution of the right idea at the right time is what will ultimately define your success or failure.
The “But Apple Does It…” Argument
This argument refers to the fact that Apple, one of the world’s largest companies and by any measure, an unequivocal success, has been intensely secret about their product development and marketing efforts over the years.
You’re not Apple.
You’re not worth billions of dollars. You don’t have tens of thousands of employees. Corporate espionage is not a reality for you.
You may not even have a single customer from which to base your hypotheses on, so while there are many great lessons to be learned from the tech giant, this is not one of them.
Shouldn’t I Patent My Amazing Idea?
Why? Is that really where you should be investing your time and money? In most cases, with very few exceptions (are you building semiconductors?) chances are no. If you have zero traction, but are thinking about filing patents I can pretty much guarantee you’re wasting your time.
A few years ago, I had a conversation with Harley Finkelstein, CPO at Shopify, about patents and startups. Harley also happens to be a lawyer, although probably the least litigious lawyer you’ll ever meet. His opinion (I’m paraphrasing) was that startups should focus on building amazing companies — and fast — rather than getting bogged down in unnecessary patents.
The reality is that if you’re thinking about an idea — and it’s good — then so are others. If it ends up being a race to the finish, do you want to be the founder with 3 patents pending, or the one with 100K users and some revenue in your bank account?
Getting Into The Right Mindset
What worries me most when I speak to an entrepreneur that is unwilling to share his or her idea out of fear that someone will steal it, is that they’re starting off with the wrong mindset.
Building, running and scaling a startup is hard. You need help. Rather than being closed off and secretive, be open to new perspectives and the fact that your idea needs to be developed.
You need to talk to people around you including seasoned entrepreneurs, potential partners and advisors and most of all your potential customers.
A single conversation has the power to totally change your approach and potentially lead to a little bit of luck.
Trust me, regardless of how smart you are or how great your idea might be, a little bit of luck can go a long way.
