How to describe without loosing ownership of idea

[debbiepeck]

I have an idea that I want to develop and build -but because it's not already out there in the form I plan to deliver - how can I share to get the support ($ and builders, etc). It's a really good receipe - it brings many things together in one place. My existing hurdles at the moment - funding and the right developers - which wouldn't likely be so difficult if I could at least describe it safely.

[diwank]

There is no secret ingredient. ~ Kung Fu Panda

To be very honest, in my opinion you're laying too much emphasis on the idea. I don't mean to be harsh but there really is no secret sauce for solving people's problems. Further, you don't 'lose' ownership to an idea that easily because:

1. Ideas are extremely personal entities. It is really hard to appreciate someone else's idea as your own. (Especially, if they are 'ground-breaking' as nobody would have seen it before)

2. It is insanely hard to actually build something. So, it is extremely unlikely that anyone would just rip your idea off.

Now, in case the above does not help answer your questions, let us assume that you do have the 'secret sauce' to be the next Google (in whatever field you are). In order to safely look for people basically boils down to trust. You can begin with your friends and see if any of them is interested. Or you could try and secure an investment and just recruit.

And no. Patents/copyrights are a bad idea. You may want to read this: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2010/11/23/protecting-ideas-can-yo...

You may also consider reading this http://paulgraham.com/start.html for the value of ideas.

[veguss]

Patent it.

[debbiepeck]

Thanks. You think this is better than just copyrighting?

[crusso]

Copyright protects someone from copying your media -- whether it be text from a book, a recorded song, etc.

A Patent is for a new way to make something like a business process, or a new thing itself like a new type of light bulb.

If you simply have an idea for a web site, you should just work on it yourself to get it as far as possible and then bring in other experts. Like another poster mentioned, ideas are relatively easy to come by. Executing on that idea to actually create something that people want to use is the hard part.