Reinhard, thank you for your reply. I agree with you that the idea is cool (I have already submitted an idea) but I think the issue on patents is one that needs clarified. On the one hand, if you keep something secret and you could go for a patent then potentially the product could make a lot more money. Financially, this is better all round and on that level, CrowdSpirit would be competing with the likes of http://www.trevorbaylisbrands.com/ which advocates patent protection. However, if Crowdspirit doesn't go down the patent route then I go back to one of the points in the FAQ that Crowdspirit would own the IP, but it is not clear what that would be. Moreover you then rely on first mover advantage but this possible advantage is eroded by open discussion of the idea and the fact that big companies watching could rapidly bring out competing products. I am hopeful that Crowdspirit will be a success but I am worried that Crowdspirit could become like CambrianHouse which despite having great publicity and ideas seems be struggling to bring anything commercial to the market. Craig

Thanks Reinhard, your comment about IP is exactly our strategy. Craig, no worries about remote management which I'm currently performing. So it will work without any problem for ideas. I've one comment, it's not really professional and fair to publish a private communication based on a mistake that I did. I'd have to say that you were not the right person without trying not to hurt you and that's it. Publishing such personnal thinking based on whatever feeling makes me more confident than ever that I took the right decision to not continue with you.

Crowdspirit is just cool and I am sure that it will rock. Craig, your comment on patenting is actually a very good point but: is there really a necessity to patent this stuff? As no one else neither can patent it from my point of view this should not be a problem at all - lets just freely reveal the stuff and someone will produce it (hopefully). Reinhard

I was the information lead on Crowdspirit until recently. This is a great idea, what the world needs is easier access to market for innovative ideas. If CrowdSpirit comes up with an iPod equivalent then it will establish an entirely new product development industry. As someone who thought up an idea for a touch screen browser in 1990, I am sure I could come up with some innovative ideas for them to build. However, when I thought up said browser I had to keep it secret back then because it was a patent application. I have two main concerns about the CrowdSpirit model - one is how do you patent or protect any original idea when you need to keep it secret to patent it yet need to publicise it so that the community can vote on it (and how do you keep it secret from other companies, some of whom may have employees that become members of the Crowdspirit community). The other point is a more personal one and is that speaking for myself (I don't know about the other two team members who left just before me) I was told I couldn't be part of the team by the founder because " I cannot afford investing time in a remote communication whereas it's much more efficient to have all the people on the same room" How do you actually run a global, Web 2.0 crowdsourced business when the founder has problems dealing with someone in another room, never mind another city, county, country or continent? If all the submitted ideas come from Grenoble in France then fine, but I suspect this won't be the case. Craig