Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some lessons learnt

Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by patio11 on Thursday February 05, 2009 @07:12AM (#467648)

Without knocking YC: if you really feel that this is a great idea, and you really feel that it is doable, then just go ahead and do it. (Sure, you now have 1 YC funded competitor. Eh, who cares. Competitors are God's way of telling you there is a market which will pay to be satisfied. If you don't see any you should be scared. You can both still be successful.)

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by dhimes on Thursday February 05, 2009 @09:15AM (#467808)

I'm sure Graham & co are on the level (I've never met him/them), but I was warned that there are vc who are scum. The advice I received was to document everything. Make sure you document who is at any meeting, and what info is passed along. Keep careful track.

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by patio11 on Thursday February 05, 2009 @09:54AM (#467874)

Keeping careful track of who you tell what does not sell widgets to customers.

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by dhimes on Thursday February 05, 2009 @12:40PM (#468328)

Sorry, I don't get your point. Do you mind elaborating?

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by randallsquared on Thursday February 05, 2009 @03:41PM (#468660)

The expected value of extra documentation for a possible lawsuit is lower than the expected return on just carrying out the business plan with the same resources. That is, it's almost certainly a waste of time.

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by dhimes on Thursday February 05, 2009 @06:38PM (#468994)

Absolutely not. In fact, it is standard practice in most laboratories to have a research notebook that documents such things for patent purposes. This is relatively easy to do, and isn't much bother at all.

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by euccastro on Thursday February 05, 2009 @12:55PM (#468364)

What do you use that documentation for?

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by dhimes on Thursday February 05, 2009 @01:03PM (#468382)

If you need to go to court, they become legal documents showing you had the idea, and whom you told, and when. VC won't sign NDAs, so this is your best protection.

At the least, it can stop ugly boards (think: Blackboard) from coming after you once they gain traction ('cuz they got the VC funding, remember?).

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by pg on Thursday February 05, 2009 @09:26PM (#469236)

I've never heard of a single case where a startup made a claim against anyone based on such information. Nor is it necessary to protect oneself; commit logs should be fine for that.

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by dhimes on Friday February 06, 2009 @07:40AM (#469660)

The advice I got didn't only apply to startups. But, hey, you would know a lot more about this than I.

commit logs should be fine for that

You have commit logs for business plans? You're a good man.

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by dhimes on Friday February 06, 2009 @10:32AM (#469821)

Mr. Graham, do you take requests for essays? You've been on both sides of the table on this. What would you honestly tell your younger self about protecting your work from "bad guys?" What is worth worrying about, and what is not, in your estimation? That would be very cool.

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by pg on Friday February 06, 2009 @01:17PM (#470078)

We don't have to go back to my younger self: I constantly have to advise YC startups about this.

What I tell them is short enough to put here. The only effective protection is secrecy. But you never want to seem overtly secretive. So the optimal policy is to seem to be explaining everything about what you're doing, but to omit the important but non-obvious details that you get right but someone trying to reproduce your project would initially get wrong. By definition, no one who's not an expert will notice when such details are omitted.

Part 2: Err on the side of openness. Your valuable secrets are not as valuable as you think, and the danger of telling people stuff is not as great as you think.

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by dhimes on Friday February 06, 2009 @02:06PM (#470172)

I'm sure I'm not the only one who will thank you for posting that. It makes good sense.

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by katamole on Thursday February 05, 2009 @08:11AM (#467716)

Without knowing anything about the scope of the idea it's hard to conjecture whether it's worth pursuing on his own time.

However, the potential competition is probably a good thing.

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Re:Heyzap (YC W09) launches: The forming of Heyzap and some ... by SwellJoe on Thursday February 05, 2009 @02:39PM (#468558)

If it isn't worth pursuing on his own time, it's certainly not worth someone investing in it.

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