[dkersten]

I know how hard it can be to share an idea you really believe in - even though I know better, it still sometimes happens to me.

Ironically, the ideas I thought had the biggest need for secrecy are also the ones that others did actually do too, completely independently from me. You may think that it was a good thing I kept them secret, or these other people would have been able to work on the same idea even quicker, but I now firmly believe the opposite to be true: if I had shared the idea and talked to people, I could have got advice or even help to make my version better or complete it faster. The other people were going to make their version regardless, so I may as well get as much help and advice as possible, right? Plus if I have my idea out in the public, it could prove valuable as prior art should the other people attempt to patent their version, while having kept the idea secret, I'm now completely at their mercy.

Also, people not already invested in an idea (usually because they didn't come up with it themselves) are very unlikely to steal it. Even if they do, you just need to make sure you can adapt to the market needs. I've heard stories of startup ideas being copied, but the copies not being able to adapt quickly enough to the market because the people who copied them don't have the same drive and vision as the people who had the idea in the first place.