[jg_macarthy]

I think you need to map out the fundemental strategies of your product/service (Wikipedia Business Model, business Plan, market Plan). If you just have an idea on a notebook, dont get an NDA, no companies will want to talk anyways. I think you need to pick your best idea and formulate a strategy around it. You need to have more than ideas to get any type of funding/support from a company to get your product to market. Are you capable of making any product prototypes by yourself or will you need someone to create them for you. Think how much are you brining to the table besides a good idea (i.e. engineering/business skills). Creating a tangible product has 1000s of barriers. 1000s of ideas are thought of by companies internally, and very few make it past feasability phase. All I'm saying is if all your brining to the table is a good idea and no analysis or business knowledge save your time, everyone has wacky invention ideas. Thats why forums like this exist.

[jg_macarthy]

If you want to see some of the basic questions an investor will ask you refer to this thread. Investor Questions

[Sam Barona]

I am originally from South America, but live in the deepest, darkest and wonderfully exotic location of Pendle.

Live here with my wife and rapidly growing family. I will email you the NDAs presently.

Sam

[polkadotpants]

Sam Barona: Oh I'm not single love hehe, though goodness knows I'm probably stubborn enough to do this reguardless

Originally Posted by Sam Barona

I will advice, but won't do things for you; but something tells me you wouldn't have it any other way either.

I do believe you have me down to a T

[polkadotpants]

Thank you Sam, I'll keep an eye on my inbox; really appreciate your help here. I have a few friends in South America, they're always telling me how beautiful it is & asking me to visit - I dare say if I get the hang of this I might just raise enough funds to do that sometime! Pendle Wales or Pendle Eccles dear?

JG_Macarthy: I can't thank you enough for those links, wonderfully invaluable advice! Of course I was never under the impression I could so easily ensnare an invester though with any luck, when I'm done reading the links fully I might be that one inch closer.

[jg_macarthy]

glad I could help. Just think the more you research the better equipped you will be. Business is war after all.

[Sam Barona]

Glad to be of help; the email has been sent, hope you received it. I am just a proud dad, so I must have been thinking about nappies and the such when I wrote that bit.

Its Pendle as in Witch Country, not far from Bronte Country. At the foot of the Penines.

Many wise things spoken (typed) by JG. Develop your ideas you must. But then again that is why we are in this forum.

Sam

[akula]

Originally Posted by polkadotpants

So Akula, what groundbreaking advice do you offer me now?

ouch, I should try to improve, huh?

ok, well, look;

I can't give you any groundbreaking advice because I don't know what your objectives are. If you could list your top three, long and short term objectives, in order of priority - there could be a way to move forward.

in terms of NDA's, what you'll find is that wasting your time worrying about these things will not fit your objectives. after all, you're not trying to sell a patent, or close an m&a transaction.

so I dunno, what do you want from me? you've asked about NDA's, I've told you in the strongest possible terms (so it'd be clear) what I think of NDA's, it seems you're ignoring my advice, so why should I bother...

finally, i'll be blunt: when I was starting out, I was the same as you. only heaven knows how many years I wasted collecting completely irrelevant information, so I would avoid focusing on the real tasks at hand.

what are your objectives, and is what you're doing now directly relevant to your most important objectives?

[merliza]

I suggest that you visit www.youngceoforum.com where many young ceo's gather. Those young minds can give you wonderful ideas.

[polkadotpants]

Blimey, I've got a lot of reading to do! So overwhelmed by the responses, I can't seem to stop thanking you all

Sam, I think I've been by Pendle a few times on my holidays to Wales, I love the Pendle witch stories!

Akula dear, I do apologise if I seem a little 'vicious', only I felt your whole post to be a bit of a put down & I must admit, I'm quite protective. My first objectives for the time being are to whittle the ideas down to a feasable number, going by the most original; then of course the financial aspects of prototypes, advertising, making & packaging - not to mention estimated profits etc... thirdly, investment; find somebody who would be willing to buy out or support the ideas... As for assuming I'm not after selling a patent, I'm not ruling that out, hence the NDA queries.

Merliza: Always grateful for links, I'll be sure to give it a look in as soon as time permits.

[akula]

Originally Posted by polkadotpants

1. My first objectives for the time being are to whittle the ideas down to a feasable number, going by the most original;

2. then of course the financial aspects of prototypes, advertising, making & packaging - not to mention estimated profits etc...

3. thirdly, investment; find somebody who would be willing to buy out or support the ideas... As for assuming I'm not after selling a patent, I'm not ruling that out, hence the NDA queries.

That's a good start...most people here have been at this stage....there are systematic ways for getting to objectives 1,2 and 3 without much fuss. There's a whole bunch of do's and don't...particularly with objective 3.

Now...it's probably not in your interest that I be polite, because politeness has a way of turning good, objective feedback into a wonderfully mushy mess of euphemisms...so...let's start

how to use this feedback: to get best results, empty you mind from all entrepreneurship related the rules of thumb, guesses and misinformation you've picked up over the years from the mass media, sales literature (i.e. books) and people who do not practice entrepreneurship. if not, you won't learn anything new, but will only look for data which reinforces what you already believe.

objective 1: To make sure your journey through objectives 1, 2, and 3 is harmonious (because they're all linked in ways you're not aware of yet), you need to stop making mistakes by looking for original ideas.

the words "original" and "ideas" should not be in your vocabulary at this stage because they are repugnant to you meeting objectives 2 and 3.

let me explain: your risk profile (i.e. you're broke and inexperienced) does not permit you to do anything "original" because original things are more expensive to commercialize than existing products, in mature markets, (possibly) marketed in novel ways

likewise, if you want to get any kind of support from anybody, you have to get the word "idea" out of your head. business people don't support "ideas". they support commercial opportunities, which are different to "ideas" because they are based on documented evidence of profits.

overall: if you want to do a professional job with objective 1, you need to perform the role of an investor. this is the 1st of the four roles of entrepreneurship. in other words, to select the right commercial opportunity, you need to apply the same tools that investors use to screen and select opportunities.

why do you have to do this? because if you adopt the mindset of an investor in objective 1, you'll be able to speak the language of an investor when it comes to objective 3. if you do not take this advice, you will not succeed with objective 3 because you will be basing the selection of your opportunity on reasoning which is foreign to investors.