My previous boss had a idea of a whole new concept, an app/website including both services, physical products. He had a certain niche and nobody had thought of anything close to this. He programmed most on his own, but the last few details were out of his competence so he had to hire a programmer from India, via a serious company to write/code the last couple of functions. It cost him like 75 000 euro, but in the end he knew it would be worth it. He had planed on releasing it in 5-6 months, but after about 2 months somebody out of nowhere, started up a new company, that hade copied his concept. Everything was almost identical, except some small interface details. How do someone protect , oneself against something like this?
Also I don’t know anything at all on how to get from idea to reality? How do one know what step to take next? My old boss was like “piece of cake”, “you really only need like 5000 euro to invest to make a company you can live of in about a years time”. I asked and asked but didn’t get one usable answer. He had like 20 something companies and really didn’t need to work at all. For him it was just for fun. When his concept got stolen as mentioned above he was mad about 8 months, then he was like “you win some, you lose some”.
Don‘t worry about the ideas. Ideas are cheap, execution makes them worth something. If it‘s a REALLY solid business case, then yes, make your partners, especially the ones that work on it for you sign an NDA.
Like other people have alrady told you: Build an MVP first, talk to customers, and get the hell out of the building.
Also, sent you a DM with a link to my AI R&D studio if you need help building products.
If you have idea, than you need to implement it and deliver to market, ideas+implementation matters. Only idea in most cases cost nothing. In current time wins companies which are able to deliver product to users faster. To achieve that speed use no-code it will allow you to validate and deliver products to market faster. If you do not have enough knowledge you can hire someone who can help you cofounder or external agency which specialize in mvp development. If you want you can drop me DM i will give you ideas how to bring your ideas to life.
You don’t need a minimum viable product (MVP) — you need a minimum viable test (MVT).
Check out this article from First Round for overview on MVTs. https://review.firstround.com/the-minimum-viable-testing-process-for-evaluating-startup-ideas
Unless you can do it crazy quick + cheap, try to avoid building product until you have cleared your MVT.
Personally, I would spend 5000 euro on marketing or marketing time-equivalent efforts trying to validate the concept before spending even $100 on the product.
The best ideas aren’t new but rather target a new market or target incumbents that are stifled by the innovator’s dilemma. Go join a VC-backed early-stage startup in a familiar segment and it will make sense
As everyone said above, execution is the matter not an idea.
Always remember one thing, people follow/copy your idea always. The thing is, whether it is before or after you enter the market.
If you are strong on your leave about copies. Most successful companies are didn’t invented or executed first
IMO, your boss missed an opportunity. He could have still tried to compete in that market - heck, some competition is good for you, and in the later stages a prereq for mainstream acceptance.
It’s healthy to assume other folks already have the same idea as you. You just need to understand the customer pain points better and execute better. Hey, even 2nd place competitors can drive ideas forward and end up with market share.
Actually, stealth startups generally don’t get to test for product-market fit, which means they’re often leagues behind the folks doing it out in the open. The advice I always hear is just to get it out there and start testing.
We all get misses sometimes, in entrepreneurship or otherwise. The only danger is if that dissuades you from trying again. Good luck!