When do You Need a Non-Disclosure Agreement in Your Startup?
Patrick Henry
GroGuru CEO | Seasoned CEO/Executive/Board Member | Serial Entrepreneur with Multiple Exits | Author - PLAN COMMIT WIN
In this interview with Jeremy Glaser, who is a partner at the law firm Mintz Levin and also serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Venture Capital & Emerging Companies Practice, we discuss when and why you need a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).
Jeremy says, “Most companies are developing some new product or technology, and that’s their secret sauce. The last thing you want to do is talk to people about it, and then they can say, ‘That’s a great idea,’ and run off and start their own business. The purpose of the NDA, the non-disclosure agreement, is when you meet with someone to have them agree in writing that, what you’re sharing with them has to be confidential. They are specifically agreeing that they’re only going to use that information for purposes of the specific relationship or conversation that you’re having.”
For more strategic insights on startups, visit questfusion.com.
This is Patrick Henry, CEO of QuestFusion, with The Real Deal…What Matters.
This article originally appeared in QuestFusion.
San Diego, Product Design & Brand Development Advisor to CEO's
8 年NDA, or not to NDA. If the idea is so great, file a patent.
A head full of ai_deas
8 年Yes they do but introduced at the right time when risk of exposing IP/secret sauce becomes high.
GroGuru CEO | Seasoned CEO/Executive/Board Member | Serial Entrepreneur with Multiple Exits | Author - PLAN COMMIT WIN
8 年I think Kevin Carroll and Jeremy Glaser are both right on this one. Startup CEOs and founders should have a version of their story that doesn't reveal there secret sauce. If they don't have a secret sauce, that is a different problem. If you're going to reveal your secret sauce to a strategic partner that is a potential competitor, you might want to get an NDA. In another segment I did with Jeremy Glaser, available on my blog site, he cautions against signing a form NDA from a large company. Also sage advice.
Jeremy is a very sharp guy and well regarded in tech circles......I would point out that for most start-ups an NDA simply gets in the way. I have often had to tell CEO's 'No one cares about your idea but you ! I once introduced a young CEO with a promising idea to one of the regions foremost tech players, when we got in the room the young CEO asked for an NDA and the exec threw him out of the room. Just a thought and certainly not diminishing Jeremy's guidance.