
Surviving Your First Year - bshanks
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/startup-stages-surviving-your-first-year/
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eternauta3k
The relationship between a company, its early adopters and its wider customer
base reminds me of Geeks, Mops and Sociopaths [1]

[1] [https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-
sociopaths](https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths)

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dceddia
Their suggestion about assigning IP to the company seems fairly standard (and
employee-hostile), but their anecdotal story doesn't really justify it in my
mind:

> Assign Intellectual Property. Ask everyone to sign a Proprietary Information
> and Inventions Assignment (“PIIA”). This document says that what they do at
> the company is owned by the company. Early on we had a friend who came by
> and brainstormed ideas. We thought of it as interesting banter. He later
> said he owned part of our storage design. While we worked it out together, a
> PIIA makes ownership clear.

If a friend came by to brainstorm ideas, it does't seem likely that someone
would have the nerve to open with "Ok but first we need you to sign this PIAA
agreement."

~~~
fencepost
> If a friend came by to brainstorm ideas, it does't seem likely that someone
> would have the nerve to open with "Ok but first we need you to sign this
> PIAA agreement."

Better the awkwardness of that discussion than the situation they almost had
of someone suing for a payoff after they had success because of
(uncompensated?) discussions with friends. If any party is under the
impression that what they're doing requires compensation or ownership that
NEEDS to be known up front by everyone.

~~~
kakarot
If someone informally visits a company and brainstorms business ideas, it is
THEIR responsiblity to ascertain whether they will be compensated somehow. I
doubt at any point that someone led him to believe he would be, and it's his
own damn fault for not voicing his thoughts and concerns before offering his
expertise.

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lloydde
Can’t read on iPhone SE without subscribing to email list :(

~~~
tedmiston
Try Reader mode. I didn't get a signup modal on a 6S though.

