Hey everyone, I’m here looking for some advice on what to do next. So, here’s a bit of background: I’m not a tech person but I’ve been working on this idea for a while. Since I don’t have the tech skills or enough money to fully hire an agency, I’ve been trying to find a tech co-founder, but everyone in my circle is more into finance and marketing.
Recently, I found a company that helps you polish your pitch and raise funds. As a uni student, I didn’t have much but I put my 10k into their program because it looked solid with great testimonials and they seemed picky about who they took on. I didn’t find any red flags, so I went for it and shared all my research, ideas, validation, UI/UX, product info, and so on. But then, I discovered they’ve launched a very same startup under a different name. They seemed really into my ideas after a thorough review. Now I’m wondering, is this just a coincidence or a breach of confidentiality? What should I do about this situation with the firm? Also, as a non-technical founder who’s now 10k down, what are my next steps?
My advice (as a university student too) is to try and do everything through student societies, alumni networks, and through ‘official’ channels. If you are paying a company/professional to get involved they should sign a non-disclosure practise which happens at every stage of small, medium and large-sized companies with any type of IP.
I think the secret sauce is this is maybe discussing ideas generally, at a conceptual level rather than explaining step by step to strangers/people you do not trust.