11–20 of 49 posts
Meh, just sign the NDA.
Signing randomly sourced contracts seems like a bad idea. If he really wanted to work with people who like NDA's, maybe he should have his own lawyer draft a general purpose one for him to use in these situations.
The reason I ask you to sign an NDA is not because I am scared you're going to steal my idea. We can talk in depth about the business over coffee, dinner, long weekend ad nauseam. But if you want to see the code and hear about the non-public deals then you sign an NDA. I'm pretty sure this post is not meant to apply to real companies, but there is a lot more going on out in the real world than this straw man of cold-…
I actually really like that model--it leaves me as an engineer free to talk shop and not perform mental gymnastics with the color of the implementation stuff in my head, and very clearly gives protection for the stuff that makes up the core business of the startup (you know, the actual business).
There seems to be very little real IP in web startups these days--and I really hate software patents. So, an agreement where I can't talk business but can talk code and techniques sits very well with me.
If you want me to sign an NDA, make sure you follow thru on your commitments to me. If you're a student and I'm the professor, pass the course first.
Meh, just sign the NDA.
There's no point in me having you sign an NDA if I don't plan to sue you should you violate it. I'm asking you to sign a document so I can sue you later. What do you get in return? This guy says he's giving out free advice to strangers, expecting nothing in return. There's very little upside for him. So why should he take the risk, how would it benefit him?
The downside of saying 'no' is that you will never (or rarely) have them as a potential client. Maybe you have clients throwing themselves at you, but in my neck of the woods, clients aren't exactly a dime a dozen. I'm not going to sign anything that I feel would put me or my business at unreasonable risk, but no NDA I've ever signed has been worded that unrealistically.
To make a blanket statement that I'll never sign your NDA and NDAs are a dumb waste of time sounds like a difficult person to deal with right off the bat.
The reason I ask you to sign an NDA is not because I am scared you're going to steal my idea. We can talk in depth about the business over coffee, dinner, long weekend ad nauseam. But if you want to see the code and hear about the non-public deals then you sign an NDA. I'm pretty sure this post is not meant to apply to real companies, but there is a lot more going on out in the real world than this straw man of cold-…
Aye, but that's not the point of the article. It's not that I (or the author) want to see code & details, it's that you want me to see them. The author makes clear he's got a thousand other items on his to-do list, and has a thousand people coming to him with allegedly brilliant ideas; he has no particular interest in the idea, is not already willing to give up something for access to the idea.
Sure, if I want in on your idea, I might be willing to give up something for that access - hence willingness to sign an NDA. But don't come to me with zero context saying "I've got this amazing idea, sign away your rights and I'll tell you about it." Kinda like a legislator saying "we have to pass the bill so you can find out what's in it"; we see how well that's working out...
Meh, just sign the NDA.
The reason I ask you to sign an NDA is not because I am scared you're going to steal my idea. We can talk in depth about the business over coffee, dinner, long weekend ad nauseam. But if you want to see the code and hear about the non-public deals then you sign an NDA. I'm pretty sure this post is not meant to apply to real companies, but there is a lot more going on out in the real world than this straw man of cold-…
But if you want to see the code and hear about the non-public deals then you sign an NDA. Aye, but that's not the point of the article. It's not that I (or the author) want to see code & details, it's that you want me to see them. The author makes clear he's got a thousand other items on his to-do list, and has a thousand people coming to him with allegedly brilliant ideas; he has no particular interest in the idea,…
Meh, just sign the NDA.