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Howard Aiken said "Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats." I have a similar fe

by wave 18y ago

Howard Aiken said "Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats." I have a similar feeling when I'm trying to convince VCs to invest in startups Y Combinator has funded. They're terrified of really novel ideas, unless the founders are good enough salesmen to compensate." http://paulgraham.com/googles.html http://paulgraham.com/googles.html TheFunded Founder Gives Startups Some Advice: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/03/thefunded-founder-gives-startups-some-advice/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/03/thefunded-founder-gives...

walterk 18y ago
Thanks. Everything said there makes sense. My only problem is that I haven't been talking to a typical "VC": the guy himself is a tech entrepreneur, who's launched several startups of his own and has a great deal of technical capability.
- samratjp 18y ago
  1) I have made this mistake before, BUT, remember no matter how great technical or marketing acumen you have, it's a matter of the tiny little thing of execution, heck even more important, if people really want it or not; sorry for re-stating the YC mantra again. If you truly believe you have the unique ingredients for notoriously executing your idea, then don't worry! 2) For the FUTURE: Try to run by your idea to someone who has enough depth and understanding of the market to be able to give you insightful advice and bonus, if they are not in a position to execute your idea. Most brilliant professors fit in this category - it's as if they are clergymen with whom your confession lies safe (be prudent here while picking the professor). Other potentials include notorious media folks - don't give away your idea completely, but be vague enough to get a "feedback" as in you would probably find out if anyone else is remotely close in this field. 3) Pitch a Hotmail - always pitch your second best idea that you don't care much about if it dies completely (as in gets stolen, etc) if the Mr. X investor is paying attention and you know (s)he won't run away with your idea; then pitch your real deal. This is what Sabeer Bhatia (Hotmail founder) did until he landed on Tim Draper.

by wave 18y ago

walterk 18y ago

Thanks. Everything said there makes sense. My only problem is that I haven't been talking to a typical "VC": the guy himself is a tech entrepreneur, who's launched several startups of his own and has a great deal of technical capability.

samratjp 18y ago
1) I have made this mistake before, BUT, remember no matter how great technical or marketing acumen you have, it's a matter of the tiny little thing of execution, heck even more important, if people really want it or not; sorry for re-stating the YC mantra again. If you truly believe you have the unique ingredients for notoriously executing your idea, then don't worry! 2) For the FUTURE: Try to run by your idea to someone who has enough depth and understanding of the market to be able to give you insightful advice and bonus, if they are not in a position to execute your idea. Most brilliant professors fit in this category - it's as if they are clergymen with whom your confession lies safe (be prudent here while picking the professor). Other potentials include notorious media folks - don't give away your idea completely, but be vague enough to get a "feedback" as in you would probably find out if anyone else is remotely close in this field. 3) Pitch a Hotmail - always pitch your second best idea that you don't care much about if it dies completely (as in gets stolen, etc) if the Mr. X investor is paying attention and you know (s)he won't run away with your idea; then pitch your real deal. This is what Sabeer Bhatia (Hotmail founder) did until he landed on Tim Draper.