Sharing and Protecting Your Ideas

Courtesy of bartendermagic_com

Generation Yers,

Many of us have lots of ideas.
Many ideas don't stick for long.
And out of those that do only a small fraction actually become reality.


So what do you do with your ideas?
In my case, I write them down on one of my digital Post-it notes and the best ones make it to a Word document. It is important to be methodical and to write them down every time. The quality of all the ideas I've got give me peace of mind for the future because many can be turned into businesses with less than $10,000 in starting capital.

On the other hand, I've made the point a few weeks ago to share all those ideas that I know I will not pursue, on this blog. Seth Godin's latest post tackles this concept of selling vs sharing ideas. So I encourage everyone to share their ideas.


My Idea on Idea Protection
Here is a trick my brother taught me to protect your ideas for less than $5. It can make a very strong case against someone who stole it.

Write down you idea on paper and make sure to include as many details as possible. Mail it to yourself, preferably as Priority Courrier (signature required upon delivery). Now your idea is safely enclosed in an official dated package.

If Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss did just that when they sued Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing the source code, they would have made a much stronger case against the giant social networking site.