I'm going to respectfully disagree, Mads.
The problem with an NDA is that it only covers disclosure, ie, telling somebody. That doesn't cover the real problem, which is the idea being stolen. The outstanding issue remains that ideas are mentioned in American law as specifically NOT being protected, and no agreement outside the law is legally binding.
This presents some very big issues. One is that if a client has even a passing knowledge of such things, the request gets laughed off, asking with 100% of your credibility.
Two is, this isn't rocket science, and shouldn't be treated like it is. NDAs are for major commercial enterprises, typically ones that are publicly traded where the consequences of leaked information can be disastrous - but absolutely not for something like this.
For example, at the COW, we are constantly being briefed on future stuff, including technology, movies, tv shows, and far far more. We might get asked to sign an NDA 2 or 3 times a year, if that. I can only think of 1 so far this year.
There is the additional issue of trust, the idea that if you ask somebody not to tell, and they agree, their word isn't enough for you? then don't work with then.
Little things: NDAs are contracts. Even many small businesses are required by their owners to consult counsel before signing contracts. Even without lawyers, he person you pitch to may not have authority to sign an NDA, so it would have to go to someone else in the company. Now, you've created an obstacle between you and the pitch. The object of the game is to remove obstacles.
I saved the biggest for last, which is: don't overthink this. Great ideas are a dime a dozen. They line the bottom of birdcages if they're not littering the street. The basis for success has never ever been great ideas. It's the ability to follow through, and do them WELL.
I use Apple as an example just because everybody else does: they were late to computers, dead last to add color, very nearly dead last to portable music players, very very late in the game to phones - the list goes on. The originality is in the execution.
To take that a step further, you can succeed with a crappy or derivative idea if you do it well enough. Ideas aren't worth that much at all.
Here's the biggest reason not to sweat this: Stephen, you don't know yet if even one potential client thinks you have a good idea until you pitch it. They might throw you out on your ear. But here's the thing - as they talk to you about it, they may make the idea even better. Because the best ideas aren't "things." They're platforms that you can build more and greater things upon.
The best things that happen in this industry - as in many others - are never the result of one person. They're the result of a collaborative, iterative process.
And hey, even if it really is the best idea ever, are you saying, to us, to your clients, to yourself, that you'll never come up with a better one>
So trust yourself. Trust your clients. Relax.
And never forget: there is precisely zero legal protection for ideas. Don't ask for something that you can't have.
Tim Wilson
Vice President, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou
The typos here are most likely because I'm, a) typing this on my phone; and b) an idiot.
