ideaI generally try and keep some good ideas to hand, where “good” means:
Compact - simply expressed, with a relatively small amount of work to v1
Testable - a clear way to turn time or/and money into customer development and hypothesis falsification
Valuable - either (a) a clear correspondence between problem and a proxy for cost; or (b) a way of retaining the attention of a community; (c) an existing business or relational model where money flows but which would benefit from rewiring
Partly this is just fun, and partly it’s because if someone comes to me with a terrible idea but not the experience to understand why it’s bad, or a potentially great idea that is just way too big a step from where they are, then I’ll cheerfully lob across an idea that they can play with, learn from and then, usually discard.
I have a problem that one such idea I gave to someone I’m no longer in contact with, and that would be ideal for someone else I’m mentoring. It’s over a year now, and I see no evidence that they’ve taken it forward, but they’re so far off my radar that it’s 1% possible that they’re running with it in stealth.
From a pure rights and wrongs point of view, I’m clear that ideas (even “good” ones), have no value, that they aren’t property, and that in startups it’s often the case, and a good thing too, that you may have multiple projects in very much the same space.
Nevertheless, I feel hesitant.
What’s my next move? Do I go with my reason and offer the (recycled) idea that I think would be most helpful, or listen to my gut that says that unless I know my former contact has set it aside, I shouldn’t draw anyone else’s attention to the same opportunity?
Unless you’ve promised the first party to never share the same idea with anyone else, then you’re under no moral obligation not to.
From a practical perspective, you clearly have no ongoing interest in the first party, financial or otherwise. And even if you assume they are developing in stealth mode, if it’s a good business, then it’s only a matter of time before they’d have some other competitor pop up.
Furthermore, it seems like the best thing you could for your current padawan is to give him the idea.
All content is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.