If a competitor knows where you're going, they can focus on stopping you from getting there. If they don't know, they have to play defensively and spread their resources wider.
Ask HN: If ideas are worthless, why are some startups in stealth mode?
21–30 of 93 posts
Re: Ask HN: If ideas are worthless, why are some startups in stealth mode?
#22It is their execution that is in stealth mode not the idea itself and Details of an idea is part of execution.
Re: Ask HN: If ideas are worthless, why are some startups in stealth mode?
#23I have several ideas that could make millions. Honestly, but I am only one person and I don't have a team of developers. Wish I did, but I don't. I also don't have the money to quit my job either. So I keep my ideas extremely close to center so I can work on them one at a time. Heck, I even have an idea that would change the way politics in general is viewed by the public. Its revolutionary and could have a huge infl…
You must be kidding, right?
Re: Ask HN: If ideas are worthless, why are some startups in stealth mode?
#24[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: If ideas are worthless, why are some startups in stealth mode?
#25An idea is a starting point. That's it. It's like loading the first page into the typewriter for a novel -- the real work has yet to be done, and success is not guaranteed. One reason to keep things private is being able to work (and stumble along) with peace of mind it's unlikely others are doing the hard work of figuring out how to execute correctly. If others know you're working on it, they may take that as the validation they should be working on figuring it out (and possibly failing) too!
Re: Ask HN: If ideas are worthless, why are some startups in stealth mode?
#26It may sound a bit boastful but I know I can find lots of good idea. I keep writing them everywhere. I see new apps coming out with idea I had years ago. And since I realized that, I don't care anymore talking about them.
Talking about ideas actually make them better since you learn if it was really that great.. or you only thought it was great but it's just bad.
Last thing, you start with an idea.. but as you work through, it changes a lot. So, even if someone would start with the same idea, the end product would be totally different. That's also another reason to publish really fast.. you see if your idea was worthwhile and you can improve on it with feedback.
And, real last thing, from my experience, sometime it isn't that bad to be in stealth mode for the "general public" because if you show them something ugly visually, they might just ignore it by thinking it sucks. So what I do is, I show sketches and prototypes, but not the evolution of my prototype. So, people say "Wow" instead of "Hmm, that could be interesting. (Thinking, ugh wtf is that.)".
Re: Ask HN: If ideas are worthless, why are some startups in stealth mode?
#27Answer: ideas aren't worthless.
An idea has no value to you if you can't execute, but it has long-term value if you might be able to do so in the future, and it definitely has value to competitors who may wish to execute it now.
[Edit: Also, "ideas are worthless" sounds like the speak of arrogant VCs who want to downplay the importance of entrepreneurs... I've never heard an entrepreneur make such a statement.]
Re: Ask HN: If ideas are worthless, why are some startups in stealth mode?
#28I think if you have an established player who can jump into your area without a large investment it makes sense to keep your project a secret. The initial jump you get on them before they can counter could be enough time to gain some traction.
This probably isn't always the case and I think most of s probably err pretty heavily on the side of caution, I know I can be secretive at times for little real reason. Just would hate to release something then around the same time have a competitor steal the limelight with a release that addresses everything you were doing to differentiate your product.
Re: Ask HN: If ideas are worthless, why are some startups in stealth mode?
#29If your respected and well known, you better keep your novel ideas secret, cause people will try to copy you because they assume your ideas are valuable.
It is not as important when you starting out.
Re: Ask HN: If ideas are worthless, why are some startups in stealth mode?
#30I think there are a few rare cases where keeping your idea close to the vest makes sense, but overall I think it's delusional to think your ideas are worth protecting. Think of it this way: most, if not all ideas have already been thought of by somebody else. Are you damaged by those people having thought of the idea first, or are you damaged by them having executed it first? If they don't execute, then it's just an…
Of course, once you've answered all those questions you now have more than just an "idea." You have a plan of attack, a strategy, market research, design concepts, historical data, etc. In other words, you actually have something worth protecting.
So, are you effectively saying that the answer to the opening question is that startups in stealth mode aren't really protecting ideas, but are protecting the plan of attack, the strategy, market research, design concepts, historical data, etc?
This could be true, but do startups which are not in stealth mode really divulge all that info (plan of attack, strategy, market research, etc) to the public? It seems that the difference between stealth mode and non-stealth mode is simply in telling the public what you are working on. This is the knowledge that is deemed, by stealth startups, valuable enough to keep secret, i.e. the knowledge of what they are working on.