Do we sign NDA’s or Confidentiality Agreements before we meet?

No.

We intend to stay a trusted party in the startup community. From the very start, all email, verbal discussions, and other information we receive from you is treated as confidential. We do not sign NDAs because this would limit our business opportunities and expose us to unnecessary legal issues. We receive so many business plans each year that taking the time and resources to review NDAs simply isn't productive. In the case of a conflict of interest (e.g. you send us a business idea that has some overlap with an existing or imminent investment) we will disclose this to you while respecting confidentiality. If you do not feel secure discussing your project with a possible investor without an NDA, then this will also raise questions if you sufficiently tested your hypotheses with potential customers, partners, employees, …

If and when initial discussions and preliminary investigations result in a Letter of Intent / Interest or Term Sheet then they will include confidentiality clauses. As part of the due diligence process that starts after having signed these documents, we will expect to learn about your “secret sauce” and you should be protected for that.