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#4 seems to go against a lot of other advice here [RE: Don't Sign NDAs, which is my personal stance] Almost everyone with a crappy idea wants an NDA, so much so

by izak30 16y ago

#4 seems to go against a lot of other advice here [RE: Don't Sign NDAs, which is my personal stance] Almost everyone with a crappy idea wants an NDA, so much so that I have a stock `why I won't sign your NDA` email. That being said, There are times when I know an NDA is well thought out, and necessary, but this is the exception, not the rule.

michaelpinto 16y ago
I almost want to come up with my own counter-agreement which states "if i turn out to be a flake i'll pay you $1000 for every hour of your time i wasted"
nostrademons 16y ago
There's a difference between "Top 10 legal mistakes" and "Top 10 mistakes" made by founders. Something can be a legal mistake (as in, causes legal problems down the line) and still be a brilliant strategic move. As CEO, it's your job to weigh the legal hot water against the business benefit and decide what you need to do. Disclosing your idea without an NDA means you may lose exclusive rights to that idea. This is often a prudent course if the alternative is that you fail to gain traction, go out of business, and have to get a job, where you lose all rights to your ideas. Oftentimes, the goal of a startup is to live to fight another day, and strategically it's a good move to take a loss on one particular idea so that you can continue to generate ideas in the future.
entangld 16y ago
I need the upvote numbers back. How am I supposed to distinguish between when someone says something that sounds good but isn't necessarily true and a point that many HNers agree with? This thread is a perfect example. I'm trying to learn something here and I have no way to determine credibility.
- alexqgb 16y ago
  Upvoted. I use a Greasemonkey plugin called Backbars, which turns the numbers into a graphical display that floats behind the headline. This makes it even easier to scan a page very quickly, and note what's got traction - which can be as interesting as the articles themselves. HN - please - bring the numbers back.
- chopsueyar 16y ago
  +100 Agree. Please PG.

by izak30 16y ago

michaelpinto 16y ago

I almost want to come up with my own counter-agreement which states "if i turn out to be a flake i'll pay you $1000 for every hour of your time i wasted"

nostrademons 16y ago

There's a difference between "Top 10 legal mistakes" and "Top 10 mistakes" made by founders. Something can be a legal mistake (as in, causes legal problems down the line) and still be a brilliant strategic move. As CEO, it's your job to weigh the legal hot water against the business benefit and decide what you need to do. Disclosing your idea without an NDA means you may lose exclusive rights to that idea. This is often a prudent course if the alternative is that you fail to gain traction, go out of business, and have to get a job, where you lose all rights to your ideas. Oftentimes, the goal of a startup is to live to fight another day, and strategically it's a good move to take a loss on one particular idea so that you can continue to generate ideas in the future.

entangld 16y ago

I need the upvote numbers back. How am I supposed to distinguish between when someone says something that sounds good but isn't necessarily true and a point that many HNers agree with? This thread is a perfect example. I'm trying to learn something here and I have no way to determine credibility.

alexqgb 16y ago
Upvoted. I use a Greasemonkey plugin called Backbars, which turns the numbers into a graphical display that floats behind the headline. This makes it even easier to scan a page very quickly, and note what's got traction - which can be as interesting as the articles themselves. HN - please - bring the numbers back.
chopsueyar 16y ago
+100 Agree. Please PG.