How to Protect Your Startup Idea
In this game called business, information is power. The more we know, the better our chance of surviving this competitive venture. We should exert extra effort to know what our competitors are doing. At the same time, we should learn to protect our startup idea.
A good way to handle information is to go on stealth mode or under the radar. This is a popular strategy commonly used many internet developers because of some proprietary technology involved. Still, this is also effective across business sectors as proven in the recent price cut by Wal-Mart. Stealth mode is appropriate for the following situations:
- If you want to surprise your competitors with a new product or service
- When you’re first in the market for a particular product or service
- When you need time to develop a new system or technology to make your product or service work
- If you want to create a mystery or buzz around your product.
Keeping quiet is just the starting point of stealth mode. You should impose utmost secrecy all the time. Here are the common tactics used by many software developers:
- Limit media access to employees, particularly those involved in your stealth project.
- Ask employees, suppliers, customers, and even some VCs to sign a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to hold them liable in case they share any information to the public or media.
- Keep all information and materials in a very secure place with only a few people having authorized access.
