‘You’ cannot be copied. The Thing about Non-Disclosure Agreements
‘Insane ideas don’t need protection as people don’t copy them’
In the book (and movie) Fifty shades of Grey, there is a scene wherein Grey is behind Anastasia to get the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) signed before they explore their proclivities and desires together. It was surprising to find a legal cum business jargon used in the movie. Its a familiar term with most businesses but I am not sure if general public knows what an NDA is. It’s a sort of mutual agreement not to disclose the details/information provided as part of working together.
Having a startup idea but having the handicap of unable to put it in action (or code it) simply means one has to knock the doors of companies that help you build one. The usual ritual for anyone starting up is to look up resources on web on how to go about it. Some useful resources and articles can be found in India’s Yourstory which is one place for everything starting up in India. So armed with the basics, one sets out to pursue the firms that help build the idea into a product. The ritual is to introduce each other, exchange business cards and then sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement so that both parties don’t reveal the information disclosed with others. A few of them signed without hesitation (it’s akin to clicking ‘I Agree’ for software Terms and Conditions) but a few read it through and fewer even asked for copy of it for their legal eyes back in their office.
But each time the idea of Whenda was disclosed (not the minimum viable product you see in Google Playstore today, but the full product roadmap for the next 2 years), people smirked. Maybe they thought that the idea was insane. But they immediately hid the expression as doing the project meant business and money to their organization’s coffers. After a lot of futile running between various award winning design shops and coding organizations and lot of Ola and Uber rides, finally, the author happened to share the vision of Whenda to his mentor who found the right person to build the product. At the end, an NDA was never required.
Though the idea space isn’t black and white. I arrived at conclusion that there can be only two types of ideas
1> Ideas that are copy of others. (like whatsapp, viber, telegram are trying to copy each other)
2> Insane ideas that no one would want to attempt. (like Elon Musk’s Tesla and space projects)
People might be scared to copy the idea cause of its in-saneness but then interesting things (like partners, investors etc) might happen if you open up.
So dump the NDA and go ahead and share the grand vision next time you set foot in the startup world.
Copying insane ideas might be attempted as well. But you have one thing that the people who copy don’t have. It’s your vision of the idea (or in short it’s you).
As of Jul 2017, Whenda App remains on the Android playstore. Meanwhile Whenda has transformed to a B2B business and enticing Small and Medium Enterprises with our Next Gen Asset Management SaaS. You could signup to know more.
