Question: I have heard many times that VCs won’t sign NDAs. When I ask why this is, I’m told that reputable VCs won’t share my ideas with others and/or that my ideas aren’t so special or revolutionary that they would be stolen.
In the real world, VCs talk, they look at many deals, they network, etc. I would think in the real world information gets transferred whether maliciously or not.
I am interested on the true facts about this. Additionally, if a VC already has one company in a space and another company approaches them that is doing something novel and interesting in that same space, what happens?
Our Take: You are correct – VCs don’t sign NDAs. It’s not that we are trying to pull a “fast one” or do anything nefarious, rather in today’s over-litigious world, it is a necessary protection. The hypothetical VCs worry about is the case where 2 years ago Brad meets an entrepreneur, he signs a NDA on behalf of our firm and he takes a quick look at the business plan. He decides that the deal isn’t for us and we don’t invest. Today, I meet someone different, doing something in a similar space and our firm decides to invest. Despite the fact that Brad doesn’t even remember the plan from 2 years ago (remember, we get a ton of plans over time) and I never saw the first plan, the original entrepreneur sues us, assuming that we must have stolen his idea, when in fact this is not the case.
As for your “real world” question, VCs do look at many deals, we do network, etc. Reputable VCs, however, aren’t going to go around town blabbing about your plans. Besides, if I pass on your deal, I really don’t see the reason why I’d want to talk about it. And if I fund your deal, I’m certainly not going to do anything to injure my investment. I might have lunch with someone and talk about some industry trends, particular markets, but unless this person is a close and trusted colleague, I’m not even going to go into too much detail, as I don’t want to disclose everything that I know.
What does happen quite often is that we get a business plan from a company doing something similar to what one of our portfolio investments does. In this case, as soon as I realize this, I stop reading and let the entrepreneur know that we have a similar company and that I’m destroying his plan. The key here is being completely transparent and open.
One more thing: We get tons of unsolicited business plans that are marked “confidential.” Keep in mind that you can’t impose a duty of confidentiality sending something unsolicited.
