Comments on: Someone Stole My Startup Idea – Part 1: Are Those My Initials? http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/ Entrepreneurship and Conservation Tue, 29 May 2012 21:23:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Biodesign Alumni http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2573 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:45:41 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2573 [...] is that someone is going to steal it. Steve Blank provides a somewhat-comical anecdote of a time when this happened to him (see part two for the less-comical anecdote). There are some good lessons learned here, for [...]

]]> By: Luke Jones http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2280 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:47:56 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2280 Note to the previous comment: Along with your credibility, of course.

]]> By: Luke Jones http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2279 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:47:36 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2279 Thank you for the story. I really don’t know how you managed to keep your cool in that situation. I would have gone a little bit ballistic.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if you put a red herring in one of your slides and told those you are presenting to that you had done so. It’s a difficult thing to measure, but I’m sure the theft of the slides would go down.

]]> By: Roisin Markham http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2125 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:34:13 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2125 Really enjoyed that. Thanks for that story.
You will note that there is a particular technique used by professional speakers who publicly share their slides. It gives basic information and no meat prime. Looking forward to the reading the sequel and other “excruciatingly uncomfortable situations” blogs!

]]> By: jeffmccune http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2037 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 23:05:52 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2037 In years of collaboration, I’ve had at least six ideas stolen from me but I still like brainstorming with others. I just get a written agreement about what will come from our joint work. Great article.

]]> By: Top Posts — WordPress.com http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2033 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:11:07 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2033 [...] Someone Stole My Startup Idea – Part 1: Are Those My Initials? In my 21 years of startups I’ve had my ideas “stolen” twice.  Once it almost mattered. This is about the time it [...] [...]

]]> By: steveblank http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2027 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:42:31 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2027 Jorge,

If you’re not putting yourself in “excruciatingly uncomfortable situations” you’re not trying hard enough.

I would never had those problems sitting at my desk.

steve

]]> By: steveblank http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2025 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:51:49 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2025 Chris,
See the next post.

steve

]]> By: Bill Torpey http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2024 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:30:06 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2024 That reminds of the story about map-makers: apparently, map-makers always put a small error in their maps — that way, if someone copies the map (along with the error), they can prove it was originally theirs.

]]> By: Berislav Lopac http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2020 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:27:19 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2020 So, if I understood correctly, they didn’t steal your idea, as you assert in the first paragraph, but your slide. In other words, your story proves that an idea by itself is not worth stealing; it’s always someone’s work that gets stolen.

]]> By: Chris http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2019 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:26:10 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2019 Thanks for sharing. I just found out that someone stole my idea today and also is using my name with “The” in front of it. We have been talking about the idea sometime and began development last month. We showed up at a conference today and wow… it was exactly what we were developing.

Any ideas what I should do?

Chris

]]> By: Gabriel Gunderson http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2016 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:58:54 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2016 Eager to hear about the less benign time! Thanks for sharing.

]]> By: mashaper http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2015 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:55:50 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2015 Yes, but he is right!

]]> By: jorge http://steveblank.com/2009/12/03/someone-stole-my-startup-idea-%e2%80%93-part-1-are-those-my-initials/#comment-2013 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:11:44 +0000 http://steveblank.com/?p=4236#comment-2013 Hahaha! I needed that laugh today!

This is another story to file under: “excruciatingly uncomfortable situations”. You seem to have a bunch of those.

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