New Ventures Video Series – Protecting Your Genius

Confused about NDAs and IP assignments? You're not alone. In this episode of Day to Day Startup Basics, Jake Denham, Managing Associate for Thompson Hine's New Ventures practice, breaks down these two essential startup agreements — what they do, and when you actually need each one.

Key takeaways:

• NDAs protect information — use them when sharing sensitive details like your product roadmap, financials, or data room
• IP assignments protect ownership — they ensure code, designs, branding, and inventions created for your company actually belong to the company, not the individual
• Every founder, employee, and contractor should sign an IP assignment — without one, your startup doesn't truly own its own product (a major red flag for investors)
• NDAs are situational; IP assignments are non-negotiable

If you're a startup founder navigating NDAs or IP assignments, reach out, we help startups get these agreements in place every day.  Subscribe for more Day to Day Startup Basics videos.