3 ms·

but again the fear of someone copying my idea by posting on a public forum creeps in.. ;(

rms 19y ago
Yeah. I'm sure you'll get great feedback here, but you do have to put your idea out there. Usually it's said that no one cares about ideas and it's all about execution but still, I certainly understand the values of stealth.
nostrademons 19y ago
I'm reading a good book at the moment - Growing a Business by Paul Hawken. He has this to say about ideas: "The idea itself is just the tip of the iceberg. The iceberg is your life. Don't worry about anyone stealing your idea, because they can't steal your life." That's resonated a lot with my experience so far. I've had to make literally hundreds of decisions, from tiny software architecture ones to big ones like who are we serving and what will our product let people do. I suspect that in mature businesses, that'll grow into thousands or tens of thousands. Each one is an expression of who you are as a founder. Even if you wrote down everything you know about your business and handed it to a competitor, they wouldn't be able to replicate what you're doing, because of all the unspoken assumptions behind your decision-making. This is perhaps why it's so hard to manage employees before you've achieved product-market fit. (I worked as an employee in two other startups, both before product-market fit, before starting my own.) If your competitors don't get it, there's no reason your employees will be able to either, unless you can show them what your doing and how it impacts people's lives.
chaostheory 19y ago
I've posted here before - both my idea and the prototype. You really don't have anything to fear. most people here have more ideas than time and resources to actually implement them (let alone "steal" your idea). not to mention people here consistently give good feedback. typically the brutal, logical feedback is best, though not pleasant

rms 19y ago

Yeah. I'm sure you'll get great feedback here, but you do have to put your idea out there. Usually it's said that no one cares about ideas and it's all about execution but still, I certainly understand the values of stealth.

nostrademons 19y ago

I'm reading a good book at the moment - Growing a Business by Paul Hawken. He has this to say about ideas: "The idea itself is just the tip of the iceberg. The iceberg is your life. Don't worry about anyone stealing your idea, because they can't steal your life." That's resonated a lot with my experience so far. I've had to make literally hundreds of decisions, from tiny software architecture ones to big ones like who are we serving and what will our product let people do. I suspect that in mature businesses, that'll grow into thousands or tens of thousands. Each one is an expression of who you are as a founder. Even if you wrote down everything you know about your business and handed it to a competitor, they wouldn't be able to replicate what you're doing, because of all the unspoken assumptions behind your decision-making. This is perhaps why it's so hard to manage employees before you've achieved product-market fit. (I worked as an employee in two other startups, both before product-market fit, before starting my own.) If your competitors don't get it, there's no reason your employees will be able to either, unless you can show them what your doing and how it impacts people's lives.

chaostheory 19y ago

I've posted here before - both my idea and the prototype. You really don't have anything to fear. most people here have more ideas than time and resources to actually implement them (let alone "steal" your idea). not to mention people here consistently give good feedback. typically the brutal, logical feedback is best, though not pleasant