Legal & Compliance
Non-Disclosure Agreement
A legal contract preventing the sharing of confidential information between parties.
A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is a legal contract establishing confidentiality obligations between parties sharing sensitive information. In venture capital, there's a notable cultural norm: most VCs refuse to sign NDAs before seeing a pitch, arguing it would create conflicts across their portfolio. Companies should protect sensitive information through selective disclosure rather than relying on NDAs during fundraising.
In Practice
A founder asks a VC to sign an NDA before their pitch meeting. The VC declines, explaining they review 200+ companies annually and can't risk NDA conflicts. The founder shares a high-level deck instead.
Why It Matters
Understanding the NDA norms in VC prevents awkward situations during fundraising. Founders should share sensitive details selectively and save NDAs for deep due diligence stages when they're more commonly signed.
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