YOUNG START-UPS AND THE WRONG USE OF NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS

In 2017, a young man walked up to me after an Ibadan event, where I had gone to speak. He introduced himself, and he said he is a lawyer and a startup. He told me he would like to have a sit-down strategy session with me to help him out with his idea's technology component. I was willing to help him for free.Right there, I asked him what area is he running his startup. By that question, I expected him to say something like fintech, agriculture, edtech etc. To my rude shock, this young man said he could not mention any field until I sign a "Non- disclosure agreement". I smiled, and I thought he was joking. Before I knew jack, he brought out a 10pages "Non- Disclosure Agreement". I flipped through, and I saw "sue" everywhere in the document. I gave the document back to him, and I wished him well in his future endeavours.Many young startups are falling into this error; I call "idea messiah syndrome". They think their ideas are so sacred that the world has never heard of them before. While NDA's are good ways to protect one's idea, it is also essential to know where and at what stage to give NDAs.What we need to know;1. Knowledge and ideas have become so mainstream that it does not matter how many people have an idea; what matters is the implementation model.2. There are 1million people with the same idea you think it's exclusive to you, so open up to those who can help you finetune the idea towards implementation.3. Going around with ten pages NDA before you discuss your idea is a big put off.4. Stop going around with the belief that everyone you meet wants to steal your idea.5. Many ideas you think are precious are not implementable until you share them and get feedback/ suggestions.6. You may not end up building your startup on the first original idea you had. You can evolve through sharing and pitching into something more sustainable.7. May you never give an NDA to the person who is supposed to blow your trumpet in important places.He gives understanding to the simple.Oluwaseun David ADEPOJU