With the advent of technology and the amount of capital floating around, you get competition from anywhere. So when you are talking to a potential partner or investor, how do you protect your idea? Certainly taking some basic steps can help. This includes signing a mutual non-disclosure agreement and filing for trademarks and patents. But if someone really wants to steal your idea, even these vehicles can fall short.
Intelligence can’t be copied overnight.
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The best way to protect your idea is to have the other party understand and believe that you bring a unique intelligence to the party that cannot be duplicated. For example, if you have spent two years learning a niche market, you have a unique intelligence. And it is hard for a third party to accelerate that learning – even with a lot of money.
In my old world of health rewards, had we not gone through several years of the business rules needed to manage data properly, we would never have known the issues that can arise. If a company, investor or partner sees that unique intelligence, they will know that if they do it themselves they may not be able to see around corners you have already seen. This is certainly not foolproof – but intelligence can’t be copied overnight. Make sure that the party across the table understands that while they can go at it alone, you have already spent the time and effort to learn where the bodies are buried.
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