31–40 of 49 posts
Absolutely problems arise where an NDA is overly broad, the duration is excessive or there are circumstances where it is inappropriate but the idea of the NDA itself is not bad per se.
A lot of this seems like mis-communication between a lawyer and a client. It sounds like people have talked to a lawyer. The lawyer says, "you need an NDA to talk with people about your business." The lawyer means for real negotiations about partnerships, etc. He never intends for it to be about semi-casual discussions about ideas. He is not in the tech business. "Talking about your business" to him means specific bu…
In reality only a fraction of the people who enter into agreements actually have the wherewithal to enforce them. This is particularly true when dealing with individuals (especially "entrepreneurs") and small business owners.
I think this is something where the perception of utility is far different in the startup world that big enterprise. In the enterprise world, where there are too many people with too many complex business relationships to keep track of everything, and too diverse a group of meeting participants to know everything about them, and where you may not be discussing your IP or your business deals but the situations of your…
I have one general rule when it comes to signing NDAs: I'll sign if you're paying me something. Why else would it be worth my time?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
I think your interpretation of "sign a document so I can sue you later" is pretty inaccurate. Someone is disclosing an idea and wants to protect themselves in case you decide their idea is worth implementing. I don't think it's an unrealistic request. Furthermore, most NDAs I've seen don't really protect much of anything. The downside of saying 'no' is that you will never (or rarely) have them as a potential client.…
No thanks. I am not a lawyer, I don't trust my ability to parse an NDA and accurately and confidently predict exactly what is covered and what is not, nor do I want to predict whether you tie me up in some bullshit lawsuit that will go nowhere but waste my time and money.
No. I just don't see what is in it for me relative to the risks.
Generally speaking, my rule of thumb is that an NDA shouldn't be necessary if you're simply discussing the business. If an idea is so copyable that simply repeating aloud it is dangerous, then you're going to get copied by bigger players as soon as the viability of the idea has been demonstrated. So the company's pretty much hosed anyway. When it comes to basic business and marketing advice, it really limits the valu…
This. Related: It's incredibly galling when someone wants you to sign an NDA to talk about something on which they have a bullshit patent. Really?? Trade secret XOR patent, please choose.
Neither did Mrs Kildall. Just saying ;-)
Digital Research had an existing business to protect, Microsoft didn't have an OS business besides their licensed XENIX, and was just starting to branch out from computer languages (e.g. BASIC). It was a calculated risk for both, and for all we know against the Kidalls IBM would have gotten away with a lot more than against Bill Gates.
Who I'd note was massively connected through his family, e.g. his mother, per Wikipedia:
"Beyond the Seattle area, Gates was appointed to the board of directors of the national United Way in 1980, becoming the first woman to lead it in 1983. Her tenure on the national board's executive committee is believed to have helped Microsoft, based in Seattle, at a crucial time. In 1980, she discussed with John Opel, a fellow committee member who was the chairman of the International Business Machines Corporation, her son's company. Mr. Opel, by some accounts, mentioned Mrs. Gates to other I.B.M. executives.
A few weeks later, I.B.M. took a chance by hiring Microsoft, then a small software firm, to develop an operating system for its first personal computer."
His father was principle counsel and later a named partner in a major white shoe law firm. He wasn't someone IBM could casually screw over.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
I think your interpretation of "sign a document so I can sue you later" is pretty inaccurate. Someone is disclosing an idea and wants to protect themselves in case you decide their idea is worth implementing. I don't think it's an unrealistic request. Furthermore, most NDAs I've seen don't really protect much of anything. The downside of saying 'no' is that you will never (or rarely) have them as a potential client.…
If a person starts to tell me about an idea and I know that we're in the same industry, I will sometimes stop him and let him know that he shouldn't tell me anything that he wants to keep for himself. When you're faced with a certain problem, it's very likely that your solution will look like somebody else's and I don't want anybody upset with me because I "stole" their idea.
Signing an NDA puts you in a bad position and even if there is no real legal threat because of vague formulation or whatever, you risk making enemies which in itself can cost a lot of time one way or another.