I’ve signed a ton of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). I have to admit that most of the time, they made me laugh. Not that I make fun of my clients or the entrepreneurs I work with, but I never really understood how such a practice really allowed you to “protect” an idea from being “copied”.
The risk of being imitated
There are 7.5 billion of us on Earth. Thinking that we are the only ones with an idea is also thinking that this earth revolves around us. “Yes, but the concept does not exist,” some will say. Well, it is not because no one has thought of it: it is because no one has yet put it into practice.
Besides, whether or not you are slovenia mobile phone numbers database the only one with an idea, when the project comes to fruition, it will not constitute a major advantage. Having an idea is not a competitive advantage or a guarantee of success.
Beyond the idea, we must not forget the knowledge of the industry, nor the network developed since the beginning of the project. They say that the devil is in the details and this is even more true when it comes to starting a business project.
Execution > Idea
Thomas Edison said it: Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. The idea is only a small part of success. It is its execution that you will get it if you pierce the next one will make all the difference. How do you go about offering your service or developing your product? How do you acquire your customers? What is your plan to set up a viable cost structure and be profitable?
A question I like to ask is: If you had $10 million in your business account and your service or product was ready, what would you do?
When you think about it, the idea of a photo and post sharing platform isn’t that revolutionary, and yet it became Facebook, while Myspace dominated the social media sphere at the time. It’s all about execution. Remember VHS? It became the standard for video cassettes. Why not Beta? Execution!
You will ask the entrepreneurs that we support with our Apollo13 program, (especially GoSoumission, Lexya or Maitrileaf) what I said about their idea when they came to see me at the beginning. My comments were not encouraging, but they did not dwell on it. All ideas are good and bad, depending on who you talk to. It is what you do with the idea that will change everything.
To talk about your idea or not?
If you ask me, yes, you should talk about your idea. Without embarrassment and without restraint. You shouldn’t just talk about it to your mother… she’ll definitely think it’s good! Talk about it to the people who are going to try to tear it business to consumer reviews down. That way, it will become more refined and you will be more resilient. You should expose it to as many people as possible, even those who don’t understand anything about it, because value comes from the most fragmented perspectives. All you need is an open mind, to know your strengths and weaknesses well and to be ready to adapt when necessary. Simply for the knowledge you will accumulate during these discussions, it’s worth getting involved. And if your idea gets stolen while talking about it, you will have the chance to be more competitive when it comes to execution.
Do your homework!
Our first meetings with the startups we support are often our last. We give them homework to prove their hypotheses and often, entrepreneurs don’t do it. Why? Because it requires confronting the weaknesses of the concept, stopping dreaming, thinking about their proposition and taking action. At the vision stage, everything is perfect, that’s normal. Having both hands in it is not the most glamorous thing! It’s when you start testing the market that things can go wrong. If you are an entrepreneur and are thinking of contacting us through our startup program, think about the homework you will have when you leave us.
In short, your strategy should not remain pixels on a screen . Beyond trying to please the jury of a competition or convince a banker, at some point, you have to stop thinking and test your hypotheses. The sooner you enter “action” mode, the better your project will be. On a daily basis, this is the challenge of all entrepreneurs.