
Ask HN: Creating a prototype with strangers; how to protect against future risk? - throw48596758
Hi! Throwaway here to dissociate from real identity.<p>So I was accepted into a pre-accelerator program this summer with 3 other team members, and we do not know each other well. It is part-time (we keep our day jobs) over 3 months, with the goal of developing a prototype product by the end.<p>It is very low-pressure in that we do not recieve financial support, only mentorship, and it was also heavily marketed towards students and recent graduates. The program is in its second year, and from looking up last year&#x27;s teams, it seems like most of the groups fizzled out&#x2F; went their own ways at the end.<p>So my question is: what do I do to protect myself from the possible outcome that one or more team members drops out after the summer, but the prototype is turned into a successful startup? I am trying to avoid the situation that they could come back later and claim ownership. They seem like good people as far I as I know so hopefully this wouldn&#x27;t be an issue, but I also want to plan for the worst-case scenario.
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nostrademons
Prototypes are supposed to be thrown away; the point is to learn & validate,
not to serve as the basis for a commercial product. So the obvious solution is
to _throw it away_ and start from scratch with code that's written only by
people with clear IP assignment agreements to the company. Then, legally, at
least you're in the clear; IP is usually construed as code/documents/etc, and
just because you once worked together on a project in a vaguely similar space
doesn't mean that they have any claim on future output. You can't stop them
from _suing_ you (anyone can sue anyone for any reason), but you can stop them
from _winning_.

Socially, your best defense is to make it clear at the end who's interested in
turning it into a startup and who's not, and extend the invitation to join as
cofounders to anyone who's committed to it. If you liked working with them as
people (and that's part of the point of these programs), you lose nothing from
doing this anyway. If you didn't like working with them, chances are you won't
have anything of value anyway, but that's where you throw away what you've got
and start fresh.

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throw48596758
Thanks for the thoughtful response!

