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>> So he named his price, asked the businessman to deposit the money with the notary, and if the idea upon disclosure would be implemented within 5 years the mo
by ekanes 16y ago
>> So he named his price, asked the businessman to deposit the money with the notary, and if the idea upon disclosure would be implemented within 5 years the money would flow to the inventor, otherwise it would go back to the businessman.
Great story. I wondered why we don't see more of this in the real world, then realized that one of the scenarios doesn't end well.
If the businessman doesn't like the idea, he doesn't get his money back for 5 years. Ouch.
- jacquesm 16y agoYes, that's the risk, you can express it in money by taking the going interest rate multiplied by the amount and the duration. A common way to do stuff like this is with a bank-guarantee, which means you're good for the money but the money is not actually taken out of your account until the transaction completes. Should you default on the payment the bank will pay up. Otoh it also is a matter of how big the amount is. If the price is reasonable the businessman would likely take the risk. Ideas are worth something, but by themselves not a whole lot, so the seller and buyer would both be acting on the assumption that the deal would be good for both of them if it went through. And the time could be shorter or longer, there is quite a bit of play in the concept to allow adaptation.