Due to our new website, community posts are copied from the old to the new one. Therefore, we would like to emphasize that this post is written by Anita Oosterlee:
(Originally posted 27 days ago)
Hi all,
Here's a link to a blog of Seth Godin I'd like to share with you. It's about his view on sharing ideas. There are some great quotes in it, e.g.:
- Ideas can’t be stolen, because ideas don’t get smaller when they’re shared, they get bigger -
- The productivity of our generation isn’t the productivity of the efficient assembly line (that’s old school). No, our productivity is the productivity of connection -
Read it! Go: http://ideas.ted.com/the-big-mistake-we-all-make-about-ideas/ 
Comment by Saskia Reus-Makkink:
Great post Anita!
It is understandable that innovators/entrepreneurs want to protect their ideas. Especially in the early stages, when they did not claim the market yet. We understand that. Never share an idea of an entrepreneur without askig him/her for permission. NDA is written on our foreheads.
But, the idea is NOT the most valuable part of your startup. Its team. Investors invests in teams, not in ideas. They state 70% of the value of an organization is team. Wim van der Beek, MD of Goodwell investments even says 90% of the value of the organization is team. Why? Good ideas my fail, but a great team will iterate fast and will come up with an alternative that serves the market. I spoke about this topic with Vincent Kouwenhoven (eVentures over 10 years of experience in investing in ICT startups in Africa) and he mentioned: "Good ideas pop up at the same time at 10 different places in the world. It is good execution that will make it a success or not". So focus on building a great team, that will make a difference. Building a great team, before you have cashflow is one of the topics we discuss in one of the workshops in the VIA Water Innovation Challenge (you can apply with sending a teaser of your idea to info@viawater.nl).
Comment by Hans Simons:
Sharing an idea is possible but not all businesses wil be eager to share,specially when there is money invested in that particular idea. We must not forget that we are dealing with businesses, and a business needs to make a profit, or at least brake even, if it turns a loss no one can benefit from that great idea. Hans Simons, Kascade