I was at a dinner in 1999 when I first came to Silicon Valley. Don Valentine was speaking. He said something that's stuck with me: "Entrepreneurs spend the fir

I was at a dinner in 1999 when I first came to Silicon Valley. Don Valentine was speaking. He said something that's stuck with me: "Entrepreneurs spend the first two years of their idea keeping it a closely guarded secret, and then spend the rest of their lives shouting it from the rooftops hoping someone cares". Don't be stupid and needlessly expose every facet of a good idea to someone better geared up to execute on it than you are, if they're heavily incentivized to do so. But don't over-value keeping it to yourself.