- Apr 7, 2008
- 17,571
- 1,167
I have a friend that I exchange ideas with frequently. I know him from my old job (when he was living in GA. He's in NY now) and I've known him nowfor about 2 / 2.5 years now. If I have a good idea, I'll run it by him and see what he thinks about the idea, and vice versa. So about two weeks ago, I hada really good idea that I knew we would come to agreeing on and he could offer really good advice about. I share the idea with him, and we begin to brainstormand put everything down on paper. We agree not to discuss the idea with anyone else but, as expected, eventually we both tell our families about it, and leteach other know. I cant speak much on what it is because we have yet to work out all the legal details and have it where I can openly discuss it to the public(if anyone has good information about this, I would appreciate the help). So as we get plans together and things start to fall into place for phase one, werealize that this will require a ton of money and resources that we really dont have. I thought about outsourcing and having someone fund the project and theywould get a percentage, and at that point, it was really looking like the only option versus taking a TON of time and figuring out how to build it ourselves orsaving money for the resources. This would not be efficient because with any good idea, getting it out as quick as possible is always the best idea beforesomeone else does. So we were pretty much stuck at that point and looking for options for funding.
Friday night, one of my friends who I havnt seen in a while hit me up out of the blue like "Come through..." so I went to his spot and we chopped itup. I've known this guy since the 7th grade. We've been tight since then. Never fell out, and I completely trust him along with about 5 other peoplethat are in our close circle. So were out on the balcony talking, and I tell him "I had an excellent idea that I have to tell you about..." andhe's like "Me too..." (Mind you, this is the second person outside of my family that I'm sharing this with). So I'm like "Cool, butlet me tell you about mine first..." so I give him a gist of what it's about and he's like "Me too." so I'm like "%%! you mean'me too'?!" he said "I had the exact same idea yesterday!" He goes to the kitchen and gets this sheet of paper that he had written itdown on and shows it to me. Sure enough, he wrote it down and there was no denying. Basically, the way I see it, it was a devine intervention. What are thechances of that happening? I havnt seen him since maybe this time last year, and THIS is what happens when we get up next? Cant be coincodence... So, obviouslyI decide it's a good idea to join up with him and work on the project together. He goes to Emory University, and he has the resources that me and my otherboy were missing. He knows people in law, business and IT (web design), and he's pretty well known around campus to get the word out about the project oncewere ready. It would be dumb to NOT join up.
Now, all I'm thinking is "How am I going to explain this to the kid in NY without it sounding totally unbelieveable? I knew that he was gonna think Iwanted to drop him from being included and pick up my boy down here for whatever reason, BUT that's NOT the case. It happened just like how I explained andsince the project is not really a physical item, location and all that is really not an issue. So when I tell him about what happened, he's like"Yeahh.. But I think we should stick to doing it with just us two because our idea is better..." Given, the two ideas were different in the SLIGHTESTway that he probably would have modified in the future to make it the same anyway... So I tell him about how it would be better beause of our limited resourcesand all that, but he's still saying that we shouldnt join up. I personally think it would be a bad idea to compete against a long time friend whenthere's not point in doing so and it would be plain dumb to do it when he has the resources that we lack.I think it's a greed issue with him that wewould have to split the money up in more ways than two.
So, was I wrong for doing what I did? I was talking to another friend of mine today, and I basically told her exactly what I typed above and she says "itsays a lot about you as a business man." and I'm sitting here like "So you're saying I have bad character?" She says, "No, I justsee where your friend is comming from." And I'm like, I do too, but it was my idea, and I dont think I was wrong for what I did. She tells me thatI'm wrong for saying "but it was my idea..." and "You wouldnt see why anything's wrong with what you did and that's why it says alot about you." What the hell is that supposed to mean?! She called me stubborn for not changing my opinion on how I feel about the situation, and thatI'm wrong for doing that. So you cant be stubborn about what you believe in now? If anything, that says a lot about HER as a person in my opinion...
What would you do in this situation?
Do you think I'm wrong for what I did?
What's your opinion on what my friend (the female) is saying?
Cliff Notes:
- I had an idea that will make a ton of money
- Shared the idea with a friend of mine who I often exchange ideas with, and is also not in the same state as me.
- We begin to impliment the idea, but soon find out we dont have the resources to complete the project.
- I found out that a close friend of mine who has the resources we need ended up having the same idea as me through unbelieveable circumstances.
- I tell my boy in NY that we should partner with him.
- He disagrees because he says our idea is better, but I think it's a greed issue with him...
- I ask another friend of mine for her input and she says that I'm wrong for not consulting him before I shared the idea.
- I explain to her that it was my idea and that I dont think I'm wrong for doing what I did. She says I'm even more wrong for saying that.
- I need your input.
Not apologizing for the long read.
Friday night, one of my friends who I havnt seen in a while hit me up out of the blue like "Come through..." so I went to his spot and we chopped itup. I've known this guy since the 7th grade. We've been tight since then. Never fell out, and I completely trust him along with about 5 other peoplethat are in our close circle. So were out on the balcony talking, and I tell him "I had an excellent idea that I have to tell you about..." andhe's like "Me too..." (Mind you, this is the second person outside of my family that I'm sharing this with). So I'm like "Cool, butlet me tell you about mine first..." so I give him a gist of what it's about and he's like "Me too." so I'm like "%%! you mean'me too'?!" he said "I had the exact same idea yesterday!" He goes to the kitchen and gets this sheet of paper that he had written itdown on and shows it to me. Sure enough, he wrote it down and there was no denying. Basically, the way I see it, it was a devine intervention. What are thechances of that happening? I havnt seen him since maybe this time last year, and THIS is what happens when we get up next? Cant be coincodence... So, obviouslyI decide it's a good idea to join up with him and work on the project together. He goes to Emory University, and he has the resources that me and my otherboy were missing. He knows people in law, business and IT (web design), and he's pretty well known around campus to get the word out about the project oncewere ready. It would be dumb to NOT join up.
Now, all I'm thinking is "How am I going to explain this to the kid in NY without it sounding totally unbelieveable? I knew that he was gonna think Iwanted to drop him from being included and pick up my boy down here for whatever reason, BUT that's NOT the case. It happened just like how I explained andsince the project is not really a physical item, location and all that is really not an issue. So when I tell him about what happened, he's like"Yeahh.. But I think we should stick to doing it with just us two because our idea is better..." Given, the two ideas were different in the SLIGHTESTway that he probably would have modified in the future to make it the same anyway... So I tell him about how it would be better beause of our limited resourcesand all that, but he's still saying that we shouldnt join up. I personally think it would be a bad idea to compete against a long time friend whenthere's not point in doing so and it would be plain dumb to do it when he has the resources that we lack.I think it's a greed issue with him that wewould have to split the money up in more ways than two.
So, was I wrong for doing what I did? I was talking to another friend of mine today, and I basically told her exactly what I typed above and she says "itsays a lot about you as a business man." and I'm sitting here like "So you're saying I have bad character?" She says, "No, I justsee where your friend is comming from." And I'm like, I do too, but it was my idea, and I dont think I was wrong for what I did. She tells me thatI'm wrong for saying "but it was my idea..." and "You wouldnt see why anything's wrong with what you did and that's why it says alot about you." What the hell is that supposed to mean?! She called me stubborn for not changing my opinion on how I feel about the situation, and thatI'm wrong for doing that. So you cant be stubborn about what you believe in now? If anything, that says a lot about HER as a person in my opinion...
What would you do in this situation?
Do you think I'm wrong for what I did?
What's your opinion on what my friend (the female) is saying?
Cliff Notes:
- I had an idea that will make a ton of money
- Shared the idea with a friend of mine who I often exchange ideas with, and is also not in the same state as me.
- We begin to impliment the idea, but soon find out we dont have the resources to complete the project.
- I found out that a close friend of mine who has the resources we need ended up having the same idea as me through unbelieveable circumstances.
- I tell my boy in NY that we should partner with him.
- He disagrees because he says our idea is better, but I think it's a greed issue with him...
- I ask another friend of mine for her input and she says that I'm wrong for not consulting him before I shared the idea.
- I explain to her that it was my idea and that I dont think I'm wrong for doing what I did. She says I'm even more wrong for saying that.
- I need your input.
Not apologizing for the long read.
