Lesson 3: Learning from Mistakes: Why NDAs may just save your bacon and your business...

Ah, the sweet sting of learning from mistakes.

You know what they say, “Experience is the best teacher”—if experience wasn’t such a relentless drill sergeant barking orders while you’re just trying to enjoy your coffee.

Let’s dive into anther important lesson that has left me older, wiser, and slightly more paranoid about NDAs.

A Start Up Idea

Once upon a time, in the frantic world of startups, I had an idea.

Not just any idea—*the* idea. The kind of idea that makes you feel like you’ve cracked the code of the universe, or at least invented the next fidget spinner.

I pitched it to a local company, inviting them into the party, thinking, This is it! A perfect alignment of values and skills.

They smiled, they nodded, and then they—what’s the word for it— they *stole* it.

I let them in on the idea, full access to all the details, thinking we were partners in a piece of research with the opportunity for innovation after and to build a digital product.

Imitation is a form of flattery but to our downfall at times

So what did they do?

Digitised the whole thing and passed it off as their own! Yes honestly...

I was warned that this CEO had a habit of forgetting the creator when they go off and self nominate themselves for their next award acknowledging themselves for their sheer brilliance. It was made known to me that it was the CEOs modus operandi - I ignored the advice of spending more time and money on the NDA. I thought your word stood for something. Oh how wrong I was.

I approached said CEO with my suspicions and you guessed it they told me “how dare you think I am stealing your IP for free”- I ignored my gut.

My colleague told me that their body language didn’t meet the sniff test,  like a stink bomb going off in a school classroom - it obviously wasn't legit but I ignore a second opinion.

The big reveal

They just slapped on some average graphics, added a less than cool brand name (there is a story there too, even that was shall we say given to them indirectly), and voilà—they’re the “pioneers” of my brainchild.

I’m over here with my original napkin sketches and emails to them, and they’re rolling out a digital launch like it was their plan all along.

Turns out, my idea was just too good to resist. I mean, who could blame them?

Apparently, they took the concept, ran with it, and somehow forgot to invite me to the celebration. Classic mix-up, I’m sure.

My inbox lit up a few months later, not with offers or congratulations, but with emails from people on the inside saying, “Hey, isn’t this your thing?” Yeah, thanks, I noticed.

Takeaway?

Next time, if your inner voice says, “Should we maybe get a patent or an NDA?” or "spend more time on a water tight agreemenr" don’t shush it. Listen. That’s the voice of reason.

Reason probably has a law degree and really good advice about intellectual property rights.

You would think that ethics would be enough to see you alright, but sadly with a CEO like above, it appears that morality goes out the window.

Get that NDA and make sure it’s water tight. I actually had one but turns out I not the right detail within it.

Lesson learned:

Trust, but verify... and maybe keep your ideas on a need-to-know basis until you are 200% sure that you are protected and you can trust people you bring in to the fold.

So here's to learning from mistakes.

Now, I know that often "open collaboration" really means "we will openly collaborate to make this entirely ours."

Onward to the next lesson, which will hopefully not involve lawyers or soul-crushing regrets!