Well you are a founder only if you have some core competence critical for the project. Then you can't be excluded. Just having an 'idea' is clearly not enough (

Well you are a founder only if you have some core competence critical for the project. Then you can't be excluded. Just having an 'idea' is clearly not enough (and not having any valuable competence which can't be just hired on the market means you probably can't have a valuable idea either, ideas come from experience with something in a way no one else had). If that competence is not technical, fine: this is what technical cofounders are for. But if someone has an 'idea' of something without deep experience in a particular industry which makes him indispensable as a founder, that idea is no better than any of 5 or so 'ideas' i can invent if you buy me a couple beers in a bar. 'sitcom startup' as someone called these. It also makes chances to get funding slim, even if idea is by some miracle a good one. Because there is no answer to 'what prevents a random guy from copying it' question, which every good investor must ask.