On NDA's and Telling People Your Idea

In 20 years of working in the entrepreneurship space I have never signed an nda. With that said, I deal with the question a lot and here are my thoughts:

1. I don't want to know about the details of your business - I likely don't know your space well enough to help you beyond general business advice - so giving me secrets of the business won't really matter. If you have "secret sauce" keep it secret - but, as an example, I don't need to know what your hamburger recipe is to help you understand how to start a restaurant or even a hamburger restaurant.

2. Ideas don't win, executing does. If I could "out-execute" you and if I was interested in stealing your idea, I'd wait until you launch, then copy what I like, and then win - so telling me your idea only gives you a few months head start. And fyi, there is no real advantage in being the "first-mover" - the world is riddled with examples: IBM and Ericsson had the first smart phones; White Castle was the first fast food restaurant; Google was about the 4th search engine, etc. In addition, if my lawyer and I are smart we'll alter the idea just enough to render any nda useless.

3. I have a fulltime job and no knowledge of your industry or space; I have no interest in stealing your idea - and there is a good likelihood that no-one else does either. If someone is close enough to your industry to be interested in starting a business in the space, they've likely thought of this, or a similar idea already and for one reason or another, not acted on it.

The most successful entrepreneurs that I have met talk to people a lot; they actively seek out and get help.  You (and everyone else) need help to successfully start a business. Don't miss out on good advice because you are afraid someone will steal your idea; ideas don't win - you and your execution will win. 

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This may also be a helpful read: http://www.forbes.com/sites/wilschroter/2013/08/22/why-investors-dont-sign-ndas/2/