“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”

-Henry Ford

Creating something from nothing is hard work. It is impossible to do it alone. The bigger the dream the more help you will need. That is why you have a tribe to help you, especially when you are stuck. In my decades of being an entrepreneur I have never seen someone have their idea stolen, then taken to market and then scaled.

About 2 products are ever launched for every 3,000 ideas, only 10% of new ideas receive patents, only 5% of patents ever make it to market and about 2% of patents issued are ever a commercial success. The good news is that the risk is less than 1% that someone will steal you idea and be a market success; the bad news is that your odds are the same. Your great risk is failure, collaborating gives you a fighting chance.Yet one of the top three questions I get from new entrepreneurs is –how do I protect my idea. Confidentiality becomes a priority. The more protective you are of your dream, the less you tell the story of your dream, your Why; the less effective you will be at collaborating. No one has invented fire recently and if they did, they would not have done it alone. Copyright, trademark, file a provisional patent, have a confidentiality agreement; then move on.

Collaboration is a major key to success. And the most effective way to collaborate is to go back to storytelling. Write a detailed narrative of what you do want-your dream, goal or aspiration. Many people will talk about how they are stuck, complaining about the problem they are facing. Instead visualize your masterpiece solution, on the other side of the wall you are now facing, and say “I want that”. Describe how it looks, how other people will use it, what it smells like. It is a detailed and colorful story of what you desire.