Maybe you’re thinking is not common at all. Perhaps, people lacking creative genius but have access to resources are desperate enough to infiltrate Cloud devices, Internet searches, phone conversations, pitch meetings, and more to obtain ideas. Then, these idea thieves pitch it to a celebrity with influence to be the spokesperson for it (usually, they don’t really own the idea, they are just the forefront) and before you know it your idea is no longer yours. T
hey will say that great minds think alike, make up a biographical story on how they came up with the idea, or announce it using a fast-paced PR machine to claim their stake on the idea — but we know an imposter when we see one. Instead of doing the right thing and bringing in the originator of the idea so that they can eat to, the idea stealers want all the clout for themselves. It’s greedy, selfish, and morally bankrupt. Yet, people do it all the time. Look at Facebook, McDonald’s, and half of Hollywood.
In a recent case, an up-and-coming tech entrepreneur known as Drixxon Kyser made it known on social media that an eerily similar app to his invention was announced by Sean “P. Diddy” Combs.
“Have you ever had your heart ripped out of your chest?” Kyser says in the now viral video. “For the past year, I’ve been building, developing and promoting my Black business discovery app called Circulate. This past Wednesday, P. Diddy announces that he’s creating a Black business discovery platform called Shop Circulate.”
Support Drixxon Kyser By Giving To His GoFundMe Account
Kyser continues, “This is what the Black entrepreneur faces all the time. We go underfunded, we can’t get loans, we don’t have a network to get resources from. Like look man, I’m a kid from Southward of Newark, New Jersey. I can’t fight this machine alone. I need help.”
Combs is teaming up with customer relationship management company Salesforce to bring the app to life later this year. The Salesforce executive leadership team is led by chair and CEO Marc Benioff, co-founder Parker Harris, and president and chief strategy officer Alex Dayon. The former U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, sits on their board of directors, as well as Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube.
Later, Kyser would release another Instagram video letting everyone know that he had already launched Circulate and conducted his own research in the field.
“I’ve already created and launched my own Black business discovery platform called Circulate,” Kyser said. “I launched last November after doing my homework.”
Literally anyone could say that they came up with the same idea, but what’s the likelihood that the idea would have the same name or angle? For instance, there’s many burger joints that exist today. But, what makes them all thrive is that they possess different business angles and marketing strategies. Customers can differentiate between McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, Wendy’s, and Burger King. Despite having the menu option of a burger in common, the differences are apparent in their other menu offerings, logos, mascots, uniforms, and most of all, their names. Creators should all be able to eat through simply through support or collaboration.
For the small inventors and creators out there, learn the business and law behind intellectual property. When you come up with ideas, protect them by copyrighting or trademarking. There’s many more ways to protect your IP, but you would have to email us for that information.
