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?

  • 0broooooo@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I have been tricked by 2 university ‘Incubators’, that support young entrepreneurs, but in reality they do the bare minimum until you succeed and they can slap your logo on to their website. I don’t know, either I’ve read so many books that their advice was a fraction of what I already knew or they’re genuinely shit. However these incubators are great for making connections and networking, but that’s a bi product of being in a room of entrepreneurial people.

    I’d love to offer you some advice:

    1. You don’t have to be Techy to succeed online, Jeff Bezos started Amazon as a the least technical website. He would wait for an order, go find the book at a nearby bookstore, and ship it to the customer at a markup.

    Related to your issue:

    1. IF they’ve created a product that’s similar to yours, you need to go right back to the contract you signed, because they may have already added that “any product that is produced through the program is owned by the University”.

    2. Just cause someone else has your product doesn’t means it’s dead. Uber is a better app because they had to compete with Taxi services and their other competitors. Door dash came after Uber eats, and had a record breaking Market Share increase from their launch to now. Never before seen has a company that joined the market second beat the leading company. Use your outside perspective of their product to better refine your product.

    3. Work fast and work harder, universities are known for creating products that are over marketed and under delivered. My college marketed “THE BEST HACKATHON EVER”. The Hackathon was a pre recorded lecture from a business professor teaching his students, that you had to watch then create a slide show using the teachings. It was shameful and horrific.

    Good luck and get the most out of their program so that you don’t waste an opportunity that 10k brought you. 90% of startups fail, but the more startups you start, the more experience you build onto the next one.