If I talk too much… someone will steal my idea: how to communicate in complete confidence ?
But between the idea that came to your mind and its materialization, there is a “distance” to cover. And often, we stop along the way, because it’s not easy ! Because, to go all the way, you have to call on other people who will make your idea stronger by bringing their know-how, their services, skills that you do not have.
But how to connect with those who could provide valuable support ? Exposing everything on the internet can help… until the moment when a smart guy prefers to “steal” your idea and take it over.
InnoZen was designed for this.
It connects a community of trustworthy members and strives to foster contacts that will be useful to you, using the legal means to protect your idea.
It is based on a simple principle: for everything you share on InnoZen, you know its level of protection at any time by a color code, and you control it!
Red: no protection, the information is public, visible to all.
Yellow: there is intermediate level protection, only the platform members have access to the information
Green: maximum protection, the information is accessible only to a few members selected by you, who have signed a legally binding agreement, obliging them not to reveal what they have learned from you.
Let’s come back to the “yellow” level protection. What trust can be given to network members? It is based on 2 mechanisms.
First, when you register, you sign a document which obliges you not to use elsewhere what you have read on “InnoZen”. Obviously, you can do what you want with your own contribution, but not with what comes from others.
Then, you can choose not to have access to topics that are too close to your center of interest. Indeed, what if 2 people have the same idea, independently and at the same time? If you stay away from reading anything too close to your own field it is impossible for you to be exposed to similar idea by “surfing” on InnoZen, the doubt is removed : there cannot have been plagiarism.
Finally, there is a “small surveillance camera” that can only be used in the event of a dispute. There is a “log file”, which records the date of the contributions and of when the articles were read by members: it allows you to know whether the unfortunate individual who copied you had, yes or no, clicked on your article before he came to the exact same idea. If really necessary, we can check!
These confidentiality management processes can seem restrictive, perhaps even slightly “Big Brother” like. However, we do our best to make them as “light” and accessible as possible… and it is a (small) effort to ensure that, beyond good intentions, we could count, if necessary, on the support of the law to put everyone back on track.
Basically, there is nothing very special, and, in a perfect world, we should be able to communicate with any normal, well-intentioned person without worrying about these precautions!
InnoZen offers a framework to guarantee that everyone will play the game. No more fear: let go!
InnoZen will allow you to collect feed-back, receive advice and connect to all the services you may need to protect your idea and prototype it. Be careful, however, if this idea is connected with what you do in your main job, you will need to clarify with your employer whether you can discuss the topic outside the framework of your company.
You can browse Innozen to find ideas related to your field, and if necessary offer advice to an innovator, who will thus be able to benefit from your experience. In some cases, you may even decide to work together more closely to move the project ahead !
You can get an idea of the different projects described in relation to your target field of investment, contact the project leaders individually and ask for details which will only be visible to you.
For greater efficiency, you can filter projects that are at a stage requiring an investment round.
You can browse the ideas found in Innozen, possibly filtered according to the type of help sought, so that you identify those who could benefit from your services, and contact specifically the corresponding innovators.