Simon Willison’s Weblog

How do you recruit programmers without risk of them leaving and jacking your idea, especially without initial funding?

3rd September 2013

My answer to How do you recruit programmers without risk of them leaving and jacking your idea, especially without initial funding? on Quora

You could ask them to sign a non-compete (which I believe are non enforceable in some jurisdictions, including California) but you might find this deters some skilled programmers.

Generally though, you shouldn’t worry too much about this. Your idea probably isn’t that innovative anyway.

Make sure you hire trustworthy people, and remember that there’s a professional reputation risk involved in “stealing” an idea like that.