Once you’re on the road to success, you may need to protect some of your trade secrets, but when you’re just starting out, you need all the help and advice you can get. Here’s why:

Your idea isn’t really unique. No matter how brilliant you are, chances are that someone else has had the same idea. And if you haven’t heard about it, the reason could be that it didn’t work. You need to find out why so you can avoid the same mistakes, and that means opening up about what you’re trying to do.

The real key is execution. Ideas don’t succeed because they’re creative or different. What’s important is how well they work and the experience your end user has. The more input and feedback you gather, the better you can meet the needs and expectations of your customers (whoever they are).

You can’t do everything yourself. Businesses rarely fail because a competitor stole an idea. They’re far more likely to crash and burn because their founders didn’t know how to manage growth. Once you’ve got the basic concept down, you’ll need talented people to help you get off the ground, and you won’t find them unless you’re willing to share the details of your plan.