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Will Write Code, Won't Sign NDA
itwbennett writes "John Larson hears a lot of 'ideas' from a lot of entrepreneurs who want his programming expertise, but says he 'will almost never sign an NDA.' He has plenty of reasons for refusing to sign, but one that really resonates is that, regardless of what your lawyer may say, demanding an NDA upfront starts the relationship off on the wrong foot. The bottom line: If you want a programmer to hear you out, don't start by assuming that they'll steal your great idea."
Yep, this well-known successful freelance programmer is clearly the naive one.
My personal reason for never signing one is, the only reason to want me to sign one is so that it's easier to sue me in the future. Regardless of whether your case has merit (it won't), I still need to defend against it. No thanks.
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I worked with a friend a while back while he was trying to scare up funds from VCs for an idea he wanted to turn into a company. He went in with the expectation that they would sign his NDA. They told him GTFO with your little NDA. He soon discovered that from the perspective of the VC's an idea itself is generally of very little value- it is the ability to execute and bring something to market based on that idea that has real value. At least this is what they explained to him as he tried to explain to them about his valuable idea and dire need for an NDA.
:)
The VC's were not interested in in his idea beyond the point of ensuring it was valid and had potential. They were really interested in whether HE could bring it to market. He didn't get the funds, so I guess not.
On the other hand though, I work for a software company where nobody will talk to us about the work they want us to do unless we sign an NDA. I can't speak for other companies, maybe it's just us. But for me, I kind of agree with the VC's. I have some good ideas too, but have I produced anything from them? Not yet!