Lost

[f2char]

Hey there..

So.. I am not a business student and have never taken business classes but I am pretty interested in technology and entrepreneurship. I realize that a lot of startups get funded or sponsored either from rich tech lovers or from people who think it's a good idea and see profit in your idea.

So if I have a great idea (which of course, I have plenty...) and if I present this idea to a person to seek funding, how do I know they won't just say no and then implement the idea on their own - once they have a detailed plan for the idea, it could easily be done.

Is this just a necessary risk involved?

[SirDarren]

Well I'm not at all experienced with this [YET!], but I'm guessing if you think it's a good idea you would be able to protect it first. E.g. Copyright, Trademark.

Taking the risk is also an option, but not a good one if the idea could be worth billions.

I suppose a lot of web startups are up and running for a little while maybe a couple of months before they seek the first round of funding, so then it would be harder for the VC to take the idea seeing as you've already done it anyway.

Hopefully we can get some other responses to this.

[Anca]

if you are sure your idea is so good, protect it before spreading it to the world. But, make sure you thought about everything a business involves before doing this (just not to have unpleasant surprises).