The billion dollar secret

Every week I receive 2–3 of these secret business mails . It approximately says:

“ I have this fantastic business idea worth billions but I can not write anything about it (because it is sooo amazing that everybody would steel it). When can we meet so you can invest”.

Although I try to answer all mails and investment request (even if very late) this kind of message makes replying too complicated to bother: where should I start? I could of course answer that I am “currently not investing” or something similar but this would be of no help to the (wannabe) entrepreneurs. My mission is to support entrepreneurs so I might as well make a general comment to be used and shared when needed. Here we go:

1. Forget secrecy. You must always be able to explain your business idea and I mean always! And it should be in one sentence! Based on my experience listening thousands of startups, this can certainly be done without disclosing or endangering your intelectual property or patent. Try using “we have developed a special (even better - patented) process, system, technological feature, software,… “ or similar.
2. Alternatively think open source. No comment needed. I will simply quote Elon Musk when opening the Tesla Motors patents: “Technology leadership is not defined by patents, which history has repeatedly shown to be small protection indeed against a determined competitor, but rather by the ability of a company to attract and motivate the world’s most talented engineers. We believe that applying the open source philosophy to our patents will strengthen rather than diminish Tesla’s position in this regard”.
3. Your idea is worthless unless implemented. I can not repeat enough times: forget about the millions & billions. No matter how much potential your idea has, it is absolutely worthless unless implemented. There was this one guy trying to convince me what a great entrepreneur he is by saying he had 4 different billion-dollar-ideas?!? But he never spoke about them and never tried to work on any of them… And when the big guys like Google or Apple created something similar, he somehow truly felt like if they had stolen his idea… He felt “this close” to being a billionaire.
4. Implementation makes all the difference. Even if somebody was to steelyour idea they will never be able to do it your way. There are millions of doctors, lawyers, advertising agencies,… They are all the same yet each is different. Just think that Yahoo existed before Google launched and look at them now. Richard Branson made his fortune on creating better solutions such as a better airline company or mobile phone service.
5. You’re never alone. However cool that might sound to you, but most probably you are not the only one having this specific idea. Somebody at the other end of the world is thinking and working on the same or at least very similar business.
6. Investors like competition. Although we all seek for the next big invention, the one thing nobody has ever seen before, still the reality is we like it when there is competition. We like it for a very simple reason: it means there is a market! Somebody already went through the (very) painfull and costly process of testing and educating customers. Of course you should be better and unique…
7. But what strikes me most is the trust paradoxe: if you don’t trust me enough to tell me more about your business why would you want me (and trust me) to invest in you???

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This article was first published on medium.com by 1millionstartups founder Selma Prodanovic