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I think it's worth observing when the early birds in these 'obvious spaces' emerge simultaneously. We had an idea that we wanted to develop and were tempted to

I think it's worth observing when the early birds in these 'obvious spaces' emerge simultaneously. We had an idea that we wanted to develop and were tempted to apply to a fair number of incubators. There was, though, the concern that if we did so, we might end up hurting ourselves through the disclosure and discover competitors in our 'obvious space'. Was a concern we had. Maybe you don't echo it. I'm sure several individuals who believe their ideas are novel will.

calambrac 18y ago
Uh, if the space is obvious, wouldn't that be exactly when you'd expect to see competitors emerging simultaneously?
pg 18y ago
Just so there's no uncertainty about this: we have never, in 4 years of doing this, told a startup we funded about an idea we read in an application from a group we didn't fund. The explanation for this is pretty simple: the groups we like, we fund.
- sam_in_nyc 18y ago
  That's incredibly honorable of you guys, and thank you! But the explanation I don't buy. If you dislike a group, and choose not to fund them, their idea still might be pretty good. (IIRC, one or some of your essays mention that the greatness of ideas and the groups behind them are somewhat independent of each other). In this case, what incentive do you have to keep the idea to yourself, and not tell/hint at it to a funded startup?
  - pg 18y ago
    what incentive do you have to keep the idea to yourself That we promised to. And in actual fact it is very rare to hear a good idea from a group we don't want to fund. I can only remember being constrained by our policy once, when a group we interviewed had an idea I thought would be useful to Bountii (I think it was).
    - ivankirigin 18y ago
      Your word and reputation are certainly worth far more than a single shared idea. Those are pretty strong incentives.
      - ryanmnly 18y ago
        I would assume that if a VC got the reputation of taking ideas and pushing them to other groups instead of the originators, it would kill their credibility. And without credibility, no one is going to go to them for funding.
deleted 18y ago
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calambrac 18y ago

Uh, if the space is obvious, wouldn't that be exactly when you'd expect to see competitors emerging simultaneously?

pg 18y ago

Just so there's no uncertainty about this: we have never, in 4 years of doing this, told a startup we funded about an idea we read in an application from a group we didn't fund. The explanation for this is pretty simple: the groups we like, we fund.

sam_in_nyc 18y ago
That's incredibly honorable of you guys, and thank you! But the explanation I don't buy. If you dislike a group, and choose not to fund them, their idea still might be pretty good. (IIRC, one or some of your essays mention that the greatness of ideas and the groups behind them are somewhat independent of each other). In this case, what incentive do you have to keep the idea to yourself, and not tell/hint at it to a funded startup?
- pg 18y ago
  what incentive do you have to keep the idea to yourself That we promised to. And in actual fact it is very rare to hear a good idea from a group we don't want to fund. I can only remember being constrained by our policy once, when a group we interviewed had an idea I thought would be useful to Bountii (I think it was).
  - ivankirigin 18y ago
    Your word and reputation are certainly worth far more than a single shared idea. Those are pretty strong incentives.
    - ryanmnly 18y ago
      I would assume that if a VC got the reputation of taking ideas and pushing them to other groups instead of the originators, it would kill their credibility. And without credibility, no one is going to go to them for funding.

deleted 18y ago

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