I just replied to a company who I really like, and trust, letting them know I won’t be signing any more NDAs. They wanted to discuss their very important vision, and next steps for their company, which I really want to learn more about, and hopefully contribute to--so I probably blew it, by saying I wouldn’t sign an NDA.
I feel like I’ve established a presence in the API space, one that is built upon sharing ideas, and can't help but feel like a fraud when I'm signing an NDA before I can have discussions. I ranted about this a couple months back, regarding a conversation I was having with a large enterprise organization, but this time it is different. I really like this company, they are visionary, and have helped me in my understanding of the world of APIs—including where things might be going.
Regardless, I feel pretty strongly that I have built a persona built upon transparency, and the sharing of ideas, and if I continue to endorse an out of date process like the NDA, that is really about controlling the flow of ideas, it would be contradictory. I understand that when you are in business and you have to protect your ideas, and I’m more than happy to keep certain topics, and ideas private, but based upon my vantage point, bringing in the NDA takes all of this to an unnecessary level.
There are plenty of companies that I can exchange knowledge, research, data, and other vital information without signing NDAs. I’m sorry if my stance is disagreeable with your company operations, my intention is not to offend, but help you understand my commitment to the API community, and the openness, transparency, and interoperability that the space affords us.
