Gut wrenching story! The overemphasis on NDAs these days is concerning, particularly in instances like yours where someone is clearly looking to claim ownership

Gut wrenching story! The overemphasis on NDAs these days is concerning, particularly in instances like yours where someone is clearly looking to claim ownership of an idea without the desire to put any effort towards developing it. The more successful people I know tend to be the types of people who enjoy building and sharing things rather than guarding their ideas. I love John List's interview on Tim Ferriss (Chief Economist at Lyft & ex-Uber), in which he discusses how important it has been to publish his findings for the sake of science as opposed to guarding them as trade secrets. Glad you were able to move on from that without any litigation. Although, I should mention that your ex co-founder could claim that you guys had a "de facto partnership" despite you not having signed any type of co-founder agreement or having formed a legal entity.