Why I won't steal your idea

In his article about not stealing ideas, Grega Stritar mentions karma and being a good person by not stealing. Yet for some reason, he also chose to use an unlicensed watermarked image from iStockphoto at the head of his article.<p>Perhaps I am reading to much into it, but it really seems to undermine his credibility and trustworthiness in this regards. He claims he is not willing to steal ideas, but he is willing (apparently) to steal images?<p>Where is the line actually at?

It is true that most random Joes/Janes won't be interested in stealing your ideas but the issue is not about them. It's about your competitors who are already in/near your space, who definitely want to see what others are doing and thinking. If you are not careful who you talk to, there is a chance that your ideas may end up in their hands.<p>Beside, I heard that in EU and Asia, if you disclose your idea to anyone without an NDA, you immediately lose the right to patent it.<p>So don't be naive to believe in Cinderella fairy tales.

I have/had an idea from 99/00 that I developed while in R&#38;D at my work that they signed the rights over to me because the technology wasn't there yet...technically still isn't.<p>A few years back, I was talking to my mechanic/friend who was telling me about his son and this idea he and some of his buddies were working on in their off-time at 3M...it was like a Roberta Flack song it hit me so hard. My idea, from another person's mouth who had no knowledge that I had thought of the same thing.<p>Flash forward to Super Bowl Sunday. For kicks and giggles I was on Twitter because a room with the lights off is absolutely not interesting television. A particular thread sparked my interest when one person accused a news reporter of RT'ing his joke without attribution.<p>After that, I started watching the #blackout stream and sure enough, everyone on Twitter who thought they were witty also thought they were original. People were spouting off the same jokes simultaneously that it would have been impossible many of the lame jokes to have spread that fast.<p>Whereas many people thought they were purely genius for coming up with a joke about the lights being killed and Ray Lewis, many others in the mass of 7 billion people were thinking the same thing.<p>TL;DR: The idea is a small piece of the Success Pie. Execution is everything. Also, I like slashes.

One of the things I do is be a speaker in game development, targeting newbies.<p>Another is game design consulting.<p>I hear a lot stuff related to ideas.<p>First, there are a handful of paranoids, that want to know if they can patent their cool game idea ( no, you can't, especially ideas that are a story, not a game system ).<p>Then I have those wanting advice. Of those about 80% are in two fields: some want my help, but fearing that I will steal their idea they will request me to sign some crazy NDA or they will keep giving vague explanations.<p>Others want me to do their idea, some just want to see their idea done so they can play, others think their idea is so good that I would buy it, or code for free and give them later 80% of the revenue.<p>All of those people don't understand that ideas are cheap, making a game is crazy hard, and even I already have lots of my own ideas, I will only make your idea if you give me craploads of money.

Of the people who have approached me to possibly work with them, I have yet to encounter one totally original idea. Often, they'll tell me it's original, but a quick Google search will turn up a few to a few dozen competitors already in the space.<p>It doesn't mean the idea is bad, and it doesn't mean that a good execution of the idea won't be successful. But, there's no reason for an NDA, and there's no reason to be concerned I will steal the idea.<p>The implementation is key. If the person with the idea also figured out what the user interactions will be like, what types of data are needed, and what separates the product from direct or indirect competitors, I might be interested. If the person only has a vague idea of a project management system that addresses the market between Microsoft Project and Basecamp (an idea I've been pitched more than once), I'm not interested.<p>I'm also no longer interested in signing an NDA before discussing an idea. If we get further into business plans, financial information, and specific implementations, sure. But by then, I've already agreed to work on the project, and I'm getting compensation in return.

"3. Your idea probably requires specific passion and know-how"<p>This exactly. It was hard enough building a great team of freelancers to help me relaunch my site. A LOT of research. I threw out every mockup and every business detail I could to get great people on board. Many of these people are booked solid for months -- the last thing they're going to do is drop what they're doing and build my product. And they're probably not the right people because my idea is specific to my community and past experience.<p>If you end up finding some bad apples on your quest to build your product, chances are they aren't the ones who will execute on it well. For the slim chance something could go wrong, you'll be spinning your wheels not being transparent about what you're trying to build.

I generally agree but from first hand experience, I know this isn't always true. Before, I'd be happy to announce/show prototypes of stuff I was working on but it's clear that there are developers out there who take parts of the concept and release it. It may not be as full as the original app since it's a case of rushing something out but it undermines my USP. Of course, it could've all been coincidence, but I personally doubt it considering similarities and timing.<p>Having said that, that's what the market's all about so I'm not really complaining but just saying that the article isn't always true from first hand experience. I think a lot depends on the nature of the app (i.e. web app, game, smartphone app etc..) and what parts are "copied".

I'm a big believer in not operating in so called "stealth mode" so i try to share as much as I can, but lately i've been working on two separate products, one of which is an MVP at the moment. For some reason - and rather irrationally - I started to get worried about it when discussing with other developers. I'm currently considering bring a second person on board to work on the code with me.<p>Can you re-assure me that most developers think like you do? I am genuinely nervous about it bringing someone else to work on the product for this reason alone. I realise how pathetic it may sound, but a little re-assurance would give me a big enough nudge to go ahead and do it.<p>Unless there are specific cases where this shouldn't be done?

It depends who you're sharing the idea with and how complex it is.<p>Certainly the vast majority of ideas require some real specialization and can't be emulated by anybody.<p>Also, an unproven idea which only "sounds like it could be great" really is a dime a dozen.<p>You should be more worried about HOW you accomplish your great idea. Maybe you've found a way to pull off some PROVEN product, but using 1/10 the labor, parts, etc. This is a competitive advantage that can pull you from zero to a million in revenue, buying you time to "properly" develop your Version 2 idea from the ground up. This, I have seen people stealing. If this is what you've got, then keep it secret. Sell your prouct by all means but keep that "special sauce" closely guarded.

Reason 6: I don't have time to steal your idea.<p>I'm so busy working and trying to find the time just to spend with my family, and sometimes play with a project on the side, I haven't got the time to steal your idea. Not even if your idea is the best since sliced bread.

You could apply that thinking to a lot of other things too, especially around people being precious around an idea or creation and not letting go - like with coding, the same approach works with explaining that you're not going to ruin the code by working on or with it..

A lot of people say they believe in "karma" I have one simple question "why?".<p>I mean it stands to reason that if you go around being an asshole to people they might eventually start being an asshole back.<p>But I mean in the cosmic justice sense.

Here is a relevant question I recently posted that didn't get any attention: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5152827" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5152827</a>

1 reason why I won't steal your idea: Ideas can't be stolen.

I would add: if your idea is really unique the product will not be understood. First approachers usually don't succeed and only pave the way for others.

An enjoyable read!<p>The only thing I would change is the overuse of bold text. When used too much, it detracts from the readability of the text as a whole more than it serves to emphasise any particular sentence fragment.

6. I don't have an idea

fix your anchor font.