Startups Stack Exchange Archive

How do I protect my startup idea in an academic setting?

• posted by: AdMor on 2015-08-07
• tagged: intellectual-property, idea
• score: 3

Background

• I will be attending a course about startups at a local university.

• In that course, I am considering disclosing my idea to the other students.

• I am concerned that disclosing my idea to the class might lead to someone stealing it before I can gain traction in developing my idea.

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Question

Is my concern justified? What advice would others give me about how to best protect my idea and still effectively participating in the course?

Answer 6004

• posted by: MSLV on 2015-08-10
• score: 1

Don’t be concerned about it. It is all about the execution. No offense, but ideas are easy to generate.

If anything, you might only find other people who might be interested in the same topic/niche:

• If these people are smart - connect and maybe you can work on the project together.
• If these people are not that smart - they won’t be a competition to you because they don’t understand/believe/care about what you have in mind. You can not create a serious business/product unless you are truly passionate about it.

See what Adeo Ressi (founder of FI) says about it: http://fi.co/posts/937

Answer 5983

• posted by: Mowzer on 2015-08-08
• score: 0

I think you should discuss your concerns with the instructor. Ask for his advice. He must have had this issue come up before. You can always consider asking everyone to sign and NDA but I’m not sure how that might turn out?

It seems like there are two camps when it comes to NDAs. Those generally in favor. And those generally opposed. So, in your case, that topic might depend highly on the specific individuals involved. So I would ask the lead instructor for advice first.

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