How to still be a “cool guy” during Startup Weekend and not to lose the project!

It will be very short to reflect the mood of a typical team, especially the ones preparing themselves to Polish – German Startup Weekend in Technopark Pomerania (click it here and here) on 23-25 October 2015. There are many very prospective companies, that were activated following hackaton or startup weekend somewhere in the world. Examples are GroupMe, Docracy or Sharypic.

If we are thinking of protecting our idea of a project, then hackaton or startup weekend is not for us. Idea is the cheapest element of the whole system and simultaneously it cannot be protected, unless it is an invention disclosed following a pending patent application. We talk about the “engine” itself, not the name of the project / service, that might be protectable and registerable as a domain name for example.

If we are thinking about protecting ourselves / our team regarding implemented technology, it is good to sign a technology transfer agreement or founder collaboration agreement. It can really be short (ca 450 words), but effective, especially if You plan to cooperate with “foreigners” (in terms of not familiar people ;). I believe that the percentage of “bad guys” during a typical startup weekend event is very low, but it is good to be protected, especially in cross – boarder situations, like the one in Technopark.

Another important issue is to watch your back also from the technological perspective – if You use open source components, please do it very carefully and cautiously, otherwise…be prepared to feel the power of the community – compare well known examples of German hackatons, famous from that.

All in all – we wish You a very hard kicking Startup Weekend in Szczecin, but do not forget about the legal issues – otherwise we shall meet again in the very near future 🙂 !

Post scriptum: teams formed during the next weekend, shall be provided with our proposal of a standard founder collaboration agreement (max. 450 words long) – plese give us only a sign, that You wish to have it – and more importantly – sign it.