Often in our practice, we encounter situations where the founder of the startup is afraid that someone will steal his idea during the preparation or putting his idea into reality.
From our experience, this paranoia is rather useless, but on the other hand, it is advisable to be careful. This is especially true for people you get in touch with when building a startup.
To set an example, we don’t have to go far to establish the largest social network in the world – Facebook.
How was it with Facebook?
When Mark Zuckerberg and his partner Eduard Saverin wondered how to make themselves visible at the elite Harvard University in 2006, Zuckerberg programmed the germs of a “face database” that later developed into one of the most valuable technology companies. However, there is still some speculation as to whether Zuckerberg was the first one to get the idea.
Some versions attribute ownership of the initial idea of this social network to the Winklevoss brothers, who hired the Zuckerberg programmer to develop their version of a very similar social network. During the work, however, Zuckerberg left their order and programmed his own version. So Facebook was born. In 2011, Zuckerberg then paid the Winklevoss brothers $ 65 million and the dispute was settled.
This example shows us some very interesting facts:
It is more than likely that more people may have a similar idea.
However, everyone will approach it a little differently, and it is usually only one unique approach that will turn into success.
A more important factor is the strength of the personality of the author of any innovative project.
Although the Winklevoss brothers may have been the first to invent the idea of Facebook, they could not immediately and effectively implement it as Zuckerberg. In short, the brothers did not make a good estimate of the situation, so someone came cleverer and faster. Why didn’t they start their Facebook version when they started on the same starting line…?
The initial idea is only part of the success. If anyone is of the opinion that if he invented something brilliant, the whole world will lie at his feet, he is wrong.
The real hard work comes only when the idea is realized and put on the market. Here you will see how things are. A startup is a marathon, years of hard work, from team selection, through the proper determination of project monetization to the founder’s psychological equilibrium when a young company gets into a crisis situation. All of this makes it a minor matter for fear of stealing the idea.
But one thing is clear, watch out for smart programmers 🙂