I have a startup idea, but very little knowledge on how to implement it. What's the best way to get advice without risking someone else stealing it? General discussion forums are pretty public and are no doubt trawled by people looking for ideas to make money from.
> without risking someone else stealing it?<p>There are tons of good ideas out there.<p>What there's a shortage of is risk takers willing to work their balls off to make a good idea into a good company.<p>Just go ahead and post your idea here. I promise that I'm way too busy with my own startups to steal it!
My company went through this recently.<p>We listened to the advice of experts (PG, Venturehacks, VCs, etc.) who told us that nobody cared about your idea. Seriously. Nobody is going to steal your idea, for the simple reason that it's not original.<p>Just focus on the execution and strategy. Don't waste your efforts thinking you have the neatest, coolest idea ever.<p>Also realize this: if/when you submit to a VC, it's likely that they have another, similar, company in their portfolio. Are you going to worry about them sending your idea to a potential competitor? Because no VC will sign an NDA.<p>You're going to have to share your idea sooner or later. If it's later, then you're relying on your competitive advantage being the 6 month head start. Which isn't really that much of an advantage.<p>There's enough for you to worry about right now w/o concerning yourself with secrets.<p>(note: this doesn't necessarily apply if you're in a biotech industry, or something that really protects trade secrets. Most IT/web tech startups aren't like this).<p>edit: and, if somebody DOES copy your idea, look to it as validation that the original idea was a good one! Now go out-execute them!
There's a quote, i don't remember who came up with it but it goes something like this:<p>"Don't worry about people stealing your ideas, if they're any good, you'll have to push it until it sinks in their heads", it's very likely that at first you'll be the only believer.
People often do that here, with a new username and/or being vague about what their idea actually is.<p>If I, tdoggette, was working on something like Twitter, the "Ask HN:" thread would be "somehandle" asking HN about a startup that takes input from many users simultaneously and shares it with other users that I'm thinking of writing in Ruby and have no idea how to monetize.<p>I'm not advocating it, but it's certainly done.