“In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.”
Albert Einstein

Why are many people afraid to share ideas?

Let me guess what’s running through their heads (full disclosure: I’m not a mind reader it’s just that we humans are all the same… almost)

“What if someone steals it, patents it, and makes millions out of it?” “What if they laugh at me?” “What if someone else takes credit for it?

“ I wasted 2 years trying to convince myself that my idea was so good, anyone could steal it from me and patent it. Every single person I used to talk to about my invention, be it a graphic designer, a mechanical engineer or even my friends, was forced to sign 4 pages of a legal nondisclosure agreement. Even though on the patent application it clearly says that the patent approval might take years, your invention is protected starting from the day you applied for it! The typical inventor fear is while waiting for the patent which, as I mentioned, sometimes takes ages; suddenly the inventor sees his/her invention is available for sale on Alibaba!

Nowadays, the outsourcing of everything made it easy to manufacture and sell almost anything, all you need is an internet connection. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way; after 3 failed attempted prototypes, 6 meetings with mechanical engineers, 4 agreements with manufacturers, 3 government support programs, and many failed inventors’ collaborations later, I realized nobody cares about my idea, and no one is interested in stealing it too. Because…. “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” Albert Einstein An idea remains just an idea; You can patent an idea with proper paperwork, but it will remain on paper if your execution is unsuccessful. You see, I had an idea which I shared on the previous issue but
once I started to build prototypes for conventions and manufacturing, things got tough.

Turning your idea (your patent) into life is a totally different game. I could have worked on manufacturing while patenting my idea instead of wasting two years on paperwork and NDA’s.
It’s never been easier in human history than right now, you could sit at your home or at your favorite coffee shop and file for a patent while working with manufacturers to bring your invention to life. You can also either license your invention and collect royalties or do the whole nine yards. Should you patent or manufacture first? Do both in parallel. There are a lot of freelancers, manufacturers, online services that will do all of that for you dirt cheap, the question now becomes, can you turn your idea into
a sellable product?