Question 1

Is an NDA actually worth anything in business?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in specific circumstances — and considerably less than the people insisting on one usually believe, particularly when the thing being protected is an idea.

**What an NDA does.** Creates a **contractual obligation** not to disclose or misuse defined confidential information, with a remedy if breached. It also puts the recipient on notice that the information is confidential, which matters independently.

**Where it genuinely works:** commercial negotiations where real information is exchanged — financials, customer lists, pricing, technical specifications; **due diligence**; supplier and manufacturing relationships, where designs and processes must be shared; employment and contractor relationships; and anything where the information has **identifiable, demonstrable value**.

**Why it does less than founders hope:**

**Ideas are not protectable.** An NDA covers **information**, not concepts. "An app that does X" is not confidential information with value — and the practical reality is that execution matters far more than the idea, which is why experienced people are unimpressed by secrecy about one.

**Investors generally will not sign.** Almost no venture investor signs an NDA to hear a pitch. They see many similar companies and cannot accept contractual restrictions across a whole sector. **Insisting on one signals inexperience** and usually ends the conversation. Withhold genuinely sensitive detail instead and share it during diligence, where NDAs are normal.

**Enforcement is difficult and expensive.** You must prove the information was confidential, that it was disclosed or used, and that you suffered loss. Proving where a competitor's idea came from is genuinely hard.

**The damage may already be done** by the time you find out, and damages rarely restore a lost advantage.

**Overly broad NDAs are less enforceable**, not more, so "everything we discuss forever" is weaker than a tight definition.

**Also note:** NDAs cannot lawfully prevent **protected disclosures** — whistleblowing — or reporting a crime, and their misuse to silence misconduct has attracted significant regulatory and legislative attention.

**What to check:** a precise definition of confidential information; standard carve-outs for information already public or independently developed; a sensible duration; and who else the recipient may share it with.

General information, not legal advice.

Question 2

What is EBITDA, and why is it criticised?

Accepted Answer

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. It strips four things out of profit to give a figure intended to show operating performance independent of financing and accounting

Question 3

What does data protection law actually require of a small business?

Accepted Answer

Less bureaucracy than most small businesses fear and more discipline about basic practice than most currently apply. The obligations scale with what you do with personal data, not with your size —

Question 4

What is due diligence, and what do investors actually look at?

Accepted Answer

The verification process between agreeing terms and money arriving — where an investor checks that what they were told is true, and where deals most often slow down or collapse. Why it exists. A term

Question 5

How do you buy an existing business, and what should you check?

Accepted Answer

Through a structured process — identify, value, offer subject to due diligence, investigate, negotiate, complete — and the investigation stage is where the real work is, because what you are buying

Question 6

What is the difference between a trade mark, a patent, a design right and copyright?

Accepted Answer

Four separate rights protecting different things, with different registration requirements and durations. Businesses routinely rely on the wrong one. Copyright. Protects original creative expression

Question 7

What are unit economics?

Accepted Answer

The revenue and costs attributable to a single unit — one customer, one order, one subscription — stripped of everything else. The question they answer is simple and brutal: does one of these make

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