Closer To The Ideal

I’ve worked with entrepreneurs who are obsessed with secrecy about their idea. Some of them ask me to sign non-disclosure agreements, just for hearing the basic idea of their business. This kind of secrecy is always a mistake. If you’ve got an idea for a business, you should talk about that idea with everyone.

A frequent question entrepreneurs have when they are just starting their company is: how secretive should I be about my idea? My answer: you should talk about it to almost anyone who will listen. This includes investors, entrepreneurs, people who work in similar areas, friends, people on the street, the bartender, etc.

There are lots of benefits to talking to people. You’ll get suggestions for improvements. You’ll discover flaws and hopefully correct them. You’ll learn a lot more about the sector/industry. You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. You’ll gauge people’s excitement level for the product and for various features. You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch. You might even discover your idea is a bad idea and save yourself years of hitting your head against the wall.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 at 3:15 pm and is filed under business, business plans, entrepreneurs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.