When I was much younger, I thought ideas were exclusive. I also thought they were the basis upon which people became rich, world-famous, wealthy et al.
Now that I am a man (fielding beards under my chin, LOL), I know better.
The world has always been about executors of ideas ruling the world not ideas ruling the world.
Ideas by themselves are worth nothing aka zero. So, why’d anyone want to own 100% of zero?
Patents are for inventions, not ideas! Did I hear you mention Intellectual Property (IP) rights? Those are given to people over the creations of their minds not intents of their hearts. IP thefts only occur when “an idea which was executed by an entity gets robbed”. Trust me, we don’t celebrate ideas, we celebrate the inventions that come out of it. The thing is no one is certain about the future of an idea that hasn’t been tested; perhaps one of the reasons investors ask for a minimum viable product aka MVP (something that has been tested). Don’t be surprised, the word ‘idea’ is usually being interchanged with ‘invention’; but I encourage you to read carefully into the context of the speak.
If you could do it alone then you won’t need to share with anyone. Just go ahead and create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). These days what you need is usually not more than the “permission-free” internet.
Another thing that you might want to consider is the fact that “copying” is a lot of work and as such can never be as good as the original, judging from the analogy of a photocopied document (although, I hear there are some monster photocopiers, LOL). Do note that someone can copy the concept, but then execution would be a differentiator. To copy religiously, one has to be behind (that is, wait for the creator/originator/generator to make a move, in order to follow aka copy). We all went to school and we know that to cheat, one has to wait for the brilliant guy to make a move then we duplicate (sometimes mindlessly) into our sheets. In doing so, we are bound to make the same mistakes. Hence, a copy can’t be better than the original in that regard.
So yeah, stop being scared. Share when necessary and find destiny helpers that might end up becoming co-founders. About the co-founder thing, that one has the idea doesn’t mean her stock should be insanely higher, read what (YC CEO M. Seibel has to say). Note again, ideas don’t rule the world. Many of the businesses we see today, had been conceived a while back. Execution is what determines. Check out the story behind the invention of the aeroplane.
All the best as you move closer towards building the next big thing!
Your friend,
– Benjamin
