What if someone STEALS your startup idea?
This is a question that I've heard again and again.
Especially when building in public.
But is there really anything to worry about, and what can you do if someone steals your idea?
Well, as far as my experience goes:
There's really nothing you can do about it.
It's only in rare cases that you can patent protect a software solution, so if your competitors want to steal your idea, they can.
But in my opinion, it doesn't really matter that much.
Ideas are worthless. The idea isn't the "secret ingredient" to your success.
Your ability to execute is 🔥
Most people with great ideas will give up by merely scratching the surface of how hard and risky it is to bootstrap a startup.
And with regards to the big players out there, that already does something similar to what you are planning on - well, there's nothing stopping them from stealing it. You can't keep your idea a secret forever - at some point, your idea will be publically known for everyone to take if they please.
On the other hand - revealing your idea from day 1, and getting essential early user feedback and traction around your product WILL give you a head start.
That's really where you get an edge.
So bottom line: Stop worrying about people stealing your idea while building in public.
I created a YouTube video about this topic, feel free to check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsb8OZBDgtM
What do you think?
Do you worry that someone will steal your startup idea?
When you believe in your idea, you tend to think it has obvious potential. You assume that other people will see your idea and think the same.
In reality, most people, including competitors, don’t see what you see. They’re unlikely to think this is worth investing time in, and therefore to copy you. Besides they have their own ideas that they think are better than yours, and would rather work on those.
However let’s not be naive either. There ARE bad actors and copycats out there, who can hurt your project. It’s unlikely but it can happen. Look at Facebook and vkontakte for example.
When you’re big enough, it doesn’t matter. But if you’re small you could potentially get hurt badly by this.
So my rule of thumb is to be mostly open, build in public and all. But I don’t disclose absolutely everything either. I don’t want people to see exactly the same opportunities that I see, at least not while my company is too small to fight it.
I have absolutely no concern with anyone stealing my ideas. In fact, I write about them in a newsletter and share them every week.
I get the argument that execution matters. That's not the reason why I don't care if someone steals my ideas. It's because the hardest part is discovering a good market fit.
Here's the other truth about stealing ideas: if it's that easy for someone to just scoop it up, it probably means it didn't have natural moats around it and sooner or later the competition is going to eat it.
Companies steal ideas all the time: Instagram stole Snapchat's stories idea; Twitter stole Clubhouse's audio chat idea; just today I found five note-taking apps with bi-directional linking. They are all different and all have their own tribe.
Fully agreed!
And yes - you do have a great point. In my view, discovering (or creating) good market fit is a part of what I call "execution".
But I definitely agree with your point.
Nice examples with Instagram and Twitter.
Find something you enjoy building, don’t pay too much attention to what others are doing. That would be my advice.
Whenever I have built products, around about the time I launch, a competing product appears. It literally happens every time, like clockwotk. It’s the one thing you can count on happening.
Weekly question on Indie Hackers...
Why would you worry? How can you guarantee an idea is born unique?
Let’s be frank. Ideas are cheap. What makes a company / product valuable is its execution.
Name a company. Am sure people can bring up 10s alternatives or adjacent products.
Worry less in the ideation stage. Be a doer.
When people learn that I'm a software engineer roughly 1 of 3 will want to tell me about their startup idea.
I'm always surprised by the # of people who want me to sign an NDA just to hear a broad strokes outline of their idea.
If having a single competitor will outright kill your future company then:
It's also kind of annoying that they assume that I have nothing better to do than immediately start building their idea? I have a full time job, a dog, and a fiancee, not to mention a bunch of side projects I'm working on!
(this happened again recently so sorry for the rant)
Yes, definitely.
I really agree with you on that!