Would nondisclosure agreements with freelancers I work with, protect me? Should I bother with trademark registration at this early stage? We should have an MVP soon.
Confessions
Need some advise to protect my early stage tech startup from copycats
7 answers from the community
A· Nov 3, 2015
Maybe on contractor. Check with your state to make sure that doesn't classify them as an employee.
A· Nov 3, 2015
At the earliest stages NOBODY will copy you even if you go to a hackathon and shout it at the top of your lungs. Once you got traction, the copycats will fall from the sky. By then your competitive advantage is that you've learnt a lot about the space and these guys only know about what you've done.
Though if you can't out execute them, then perhaps it might be time to bring in new talent.
A· Nov 3, 2015
Oh and don't fool yourself, you will NOT gain traction from the get go, so don't worry about it right now.
A· Nov 3, 2015
What a great subject
A· Nov 5, 2015
How do you promote a product and protect it at the same time ?
Concepts can not be patented either.
Kind of like the chicken and the egg thing -huh ?
A· Nov 27, 2015
Watch this 1 hour video about how Geoffrey Moore believes you should handle this:
http://businessofsoftware.org/2011/09/when-in-doubt-look-different-geoffrey-moore-at-business-of-software-video-transcript/
A· Dec 5, 2015
Don't listen to bs about your idea can't be any good so no one will steal it. It is pure jealousy and hatered from people that wish they either believed as much in their own idea or that their ideas were ever good enough.
I see it all the time at tech hangouts and incubators. Everyone is out for themselves, and as an entrepreneur you must be about yourself first.
Learn how to protect your ideas and to file provisional patented that start the ball rolling in your favor.