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great idea - what to do with it?
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:54 am
by s.dot
I have a fantastic revolutionary idea (that i'm sure would revolutionize the web!) but only a company with large (very very large) resources, like google, could pull it off.
What should I do with my idea? Keep it to myself?
The scripting would in fact be very simple, and I could probably do it myself. I just can't store the data or serve up fast enough page requests.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:58 am
by aaronhall
You could approach some investors (Y combinator maybe), but you'll probably not get anyone to sign an NDA. If it's that great an idea, I'd get someone who has a lot of money that you trust on board and go ahead full steam.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:06 am
by Kieran Huggins
Secrecy is overrated, I say publish your idea. Then maybe Google (or equiv.) will come to you?
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:29 am
by aaronhall
If you decide to take Kieran's advice, you can publish the idea
here.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 4:29 am
by Maugrim_The_Reaper
How much server capacity would it require on a smaller scale?
I think if it needs so high a server count to be unrealistic that secrecy won't help you much. It sounds so expensive that you'd need a lot of funding. Like most things, if you start small and demonstrate the ability to turn a profit you could take the idea and look for extra funding. The important thing in all this is getting to the market first - before someone else has the same idea and implements it. If you get out first, and have enough momentum, there's less incentive for anyone else to do the same thing until the idea is proven or not. Something like Amazon's EC2 might offer an affordable first step...
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:46 am
by ptrpan
i agree with maugrim.
first get your foot in the door and show the market that your idea is indeed worth it. all the rest will follow soon after

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:03 am
by s.dot
What about a "poor man's copyright" (aka mailing myself a dated letter in the mail and not opening it)? Then emailing the idea to large companies.
Would that hold merit?
Thinking about the idea more, I can't think of a reason why everyone from a large corporation to an amatuer artist to a web developer wouldn't want to use it.
And after I had it in my mind, I can't think of why on earth it's not been done! I've googled for some keywords and can't seem to find anything relevant.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:27 am
by Maugrim_The_Reaper
You can copyright literal text, works of art, etc. Ideas lie in the patent territory.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:37 am
by RobertGonzalez
Put together a business plan for it. Document it thoroughly. Date it. Perhaps even have it notarized so that it is dated by a third party.
Then see if you can shop it around for a spell. If it is something that will need large capital to put online then you may want to submit to VCs. They will always require a business plan and may require a reference from someone they already work with, but you never know.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:00 am
by califdon
scottayy wrote:What about a "poor man's copyright" (aka mailing myself a dated letter in the mail and not opening it)? Then emailing the idea to large companies.
Would that hold merit?
Thinking about the idea more, I can't think of a reason why everyone from a large corporation to an amatuer artist to a web developer wouldn't want to use it.
And after I had it in my mind, I can't think of why on earth it's not been done! I've googled for some keywords and can't seem to find anything relevant.
Intellectual Property is a treacherous legal area. If you really think you have something valuable, I recommend at least having a conversation with a practicing IP lawyer.
That said, "great ideas" are in the eye of the beholder. I patented an electrical circuit many years ago and it was a great ego booster, but I never even recovered the rather high cost of the patent attorneys. I agree with all the advice given above, and encourage you to pursue your idea, but if nobody has deemed it to be a profitable approach so far, it just
might be because there's a flaw in the concept. Examine your assumptions about how the overall market might react; don't assume that everybody else will be as enthusiastic about it as you are, but at the same time, explore every possible extension of the idea, including those that someone else might use to compete with you, if you are indeed successful.
And you have my sincere wishes for success. Some day I want to be able to say, "I knew him when...!"

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:10 am
by s.dot
I'm not even in the mind concept of potential developing such an idea because of the storage required and database requests even on a small scale would be large.
I think I'm rather in the mindset of marketing my idea, and from your guys' responses it seems pretty complicated. Luckily, a client I had a while back is a nice guy and a good friend and owns a large business with lots of lawyers and stuff and can guide me in the right direction.
I'll just ask for advice on filing a patent -- a good local patent lawyer to go to, and if he's nice enough.. some funding.

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:24 am
by vigge89
Whatever it is, good luck

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 4:33 pm
by s.dot
I'm contemplating just releasing the idea so maybe someone can do it.
Who am I to stop the development of the internet and the sharing of great ideas just to guarantee i'll benefit off of it?
If it really is a great idea, which I think it is.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:31 pm
by RobertGonzalez
Do it. Maybe we can turn it into another PHPDN project that never gets finished.
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:37 pm
by Luke
<-- this guy his hoping you didn't think of his idea
