Conundrum and Catch 22

What to do, what to do, what to do…

A little over a week ago I had dinner with a friend, who I actually met through an online dating site about three years ago. We catch up for dinner every blue moon. We hadn’t seen each other for well over a year, so I spent a lot of time catching him up on what I have been up to (and vice versa). You know, from the disappointment and heartbreak of closing down the Coaching Agency, the lessons I learned and of course the new venture I was embarking upon.

He was very interested in Why Go Solo and he definitely thought it was an awesome idea. I then, whined, complained and bitched about my impatients and experience of going about securing funding. He has raised money in the past, so he clearly understood what I was talking about. He offered some good advice and also offered to send my info and business plan to an associate of his that is connected to the founder of the online dating site LavaLife.

I got really excited, since someone with that type of background and available cash would be a wonderful potential investor. I thanked him dearly and planned to get home and send everything to him. By everything, it also meant sending out a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

On my drive home, I began to think about what could happen if I sent out the business plan. No, I wasn’t thinking about how quickly the money would come in, but rather my idea being sent all over the place and then stolen.

Guy Kawasaki, in his book The Art of the Start, says something along the line that, that is pure paranoia on the part of the entrepreneur and VC firms and Angel Investor groups do not sign NDAs. I understand that...kinda, but I feel it’s different when you send it to individuals. My friend would sign the NDA, but what about the next guy, and the next guy and the next guy.

You want to keep positive control of your business plan. You want to know who it is being sent to and preferably you want to get it back. I much rather give someone a hard copy of the plan and get it back after a certain amount of time. Yes, the person could make a copy, but that is much more limiting then having a soft copy which can be easily changed and forwarded.

The conundrum of course then becomes…if I don’t send out the plan, then how can I expect to get this potential investor? What’s a gal to do? I’m leaning towards sending out the executive summary and the blog website address. If the interest is truly there, then I can have direct contact with the investor and ask him to personally sign the NDA, then send the plan.

It’s a longer process and possibly one that might not work, but I have to do what makes me comfortable with this matter. Anyone have any other thoughts on this?