After writing my last post, I circulated it to a mailing list and had a bunch of nice responses. There was some interesting conversation and some interesting ideas, which is always a good thing. One interesting email came from a business school classmate of mine who’s working on an interesting concept to disrupt an industry that needs disrupting. The classmate said we should talk when I’m next in London over a coffee and joked (I hope) after signing the right documents.
I laughed. But then I thought what if he’s serious about the documents. I was tempted to send him to a search of “Why I don’t sing NDAs” on Google. It’s mostly from VCs who see hundreds of ideas and can’t be held risk being held legally accountable if they back one business and not another. There are some great posts on this from Guy K and from Brad Feld.
But it’s not just about VCs, as someone who spends a lot of time talking to a lot of people, from big companies, agencies and entrepreneurs, I don’t feel comfortable signing NDAs either. Even at Y! right now if someone asks me to sign an NDA I try and avoid it if possible – either by looking for an alternative company or by saying No.
Why do I feel this way? On principle, if you’re spending time trying to legally protect your ass that’s time that could be better spend executing. Also, if you’re asking for a signed NDA odds are your not talking to that many people, that – in my opinion – is a mistake. Talking to people helps grow the idea, helps define direction and helps companies pivot. Open is still better than closed. A lot of my thinking has been framed by recent discussions about patents in software, check out Brad Feld’s writing on patents – which I also feel are slowing down discovery and innovation.
At the same time, some people need a feeling of trust between two parties. I like to suggest having a FriendDA* in principle. A FriendDA means basically that neither party will be a jerk. We’re sitting down with an understanding of trust and not out to screw each other purposefully. If there are any conflicts of interest we’ll point them out early rather then afterwards and we’ll communicate as best we can about actions we’re taking. If one of us messes up the FriendDA, the other party has the right to tell everyone he knows that the party which messes up is a term that rhymes with crass pole.
*If you need an official FriendDA form check out friendda.org.
