Ask HN: How does a stealth startup get someone to redesign it confidentially?

#1

Post by stop » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 11:38 AM UTC

Our startup needs a redesign. It has been put together entirely by programmers and looks like shit. The problem is, we don't intend to hire anyone else and we are concerned that if we get a designer from outside to redesign the site, it could result in destroying our cover.

I know there is a huge potential debate here about whether startups should be in stealth mode at all. All I can say here is that it's not a decision that's under my control, is not going to change, and has no bearing on the fact that I need to redesign the site while maintaining the confidentiality of the idea behind it. So feel free to start another debate on stealth startups if you like but I would still appreciate if someone could try to answer this question I'm dealing with regarding carrying out a stealthy redesign. Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: How does a stealth startup get someone to redesign it confidentially?

#2

Post by splatcollision » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 11:56 AM UTC

Hire a professional designer. If the design is so important to your startup that it's holding back your launch, and you don't trust freelancers or outsourcers, then you need to hire for it. My portfolio is in my profile ;)

Re: Ask HN: How does a stealth startup get someone to redesign it confidentially?

#3

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 11:58 AM UTC

splatcollision wrote: post #2

Hire a professional designer. If the design is so important to your startup that it's holding back your launch, and you don't trust freelancers or outsourcers, then you need to hire for it. My portfolio is in my profile ;)

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How does a stealth startup get someone to redesign it confidentially?

#4

Post by dclaysmith » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 12:00 PM UTC

Crowdspring (and maybe 99designs) requires the designers sign NDAs if the project is above a certain dollar value I believe.

Re: Ask HN: How does a stealth startup get someone to redesign it confidentially?

#5

Post by sambeau » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 12:12 PM UTC

Every product commercially released requires confidential design to take place. It is normal for designers to work like this.

Even super-secret companies like Apple require videos, adverts, web-pages, photo-shoots etc. The iPad2 probably already has all of these.

Find yourself a good designer. Ask them to keep it quiet. If need be, get them to sign an NDA.

One request. Please release them from the NDA as soon as it is no longer necessary so that the designer can add the work to their portfolio. More than half of the things I have designed have never seen the light of day and yet are still NDA'd. It's very frustrating as it includes some of my best work.

Re: Ask HN: How does a stealth startup get someone to redesign it confidentially?

#6

Post by highlander » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 12:33 PM UTC

Do you have a good professional network? You could ask them to recommend someone trustworthy.

FWIW I agree you should put them under an NDA but don't rely on that stopping quiet/silent leakage.

Re: Ask HN: How does a stealth startup get someone to redesign it confidentially?

#7

Post by ig1 » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 12:45 PM UTC

Use an NDA that's what they're meant for.

Re: Ask HN: How does a stealth startup get someone to redesign it confidentially?

#8

Post by sagacity » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 12:52 PM UTC

> it's not a decision that's under my control, is not going to change

Kind of guessing here, but this leads me to believe you have investors. If so, have you asked them about this? Seasoned tech investors usually have contacts to facilitate such things. (I'm sure you'll get some useful, actionable input here too.)

Re: Ask HN: How does a stealth startup get someone to redesign it confidentially?

#9

Post by gtufano » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 1:07 PM UTC

sambeau wrote: post #5

Every product commercially released requires confidential design to take place. It is normal for designers to work like this. Even super-secret companies like Apple require videos, adverts, web-pages, photo-shoots etc. The iPad2 probably already has all of these. Find yourself a good designer. Ask them to keep it quiet. If need be, get them to sign an NDA. One request. Please release them from the NDA as soon as it i…

Every NDA contract I've seen (bigCo) have an "automatic lift off" when the object of the NDA become public. Say: "you cannot talk about product X while it is not announced". It's your experience different or, simply, your works are still not public (ie: have not been used)?

Re: Ask HN: How does a stealth startup get someone to redesign it confidentially?

#10

Post by rexreed » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 1:07 PM UTC

Three words: trust, Non-disclosures, and contracts. And work with a US firm or firm in another jurisdiction where you know that the force of law (and the power of the lawsuit) is much stronger if they violate any of the above three.

Of course, you know that it's very hard to truly protect an idea. This is why trust matters the most.

Oh, and don't be cheap. Expect to pay a premium for keeping things quiet. If you play lowball cheapskate, don't be surprised if the other party at some point finds it more economically advantageous to run with your idea in ways you can't / won't.

So, pay well and trust few. Then cross your fingers.

And you're right when you say this will spawn conversation about stealthiness for startups. I have rarely seen stealth matter. But you probably already know this.