The point the article makes is one I strongly believe in. A startup should reach out for all the help it can get - far better than dying undiscovered for lack of needed assistance.

Nevertheless it is also true that theft of ideas happens all the time, and is not limited to startups in any way. Think Microsoft and the Samwer brothers for instance. Little - no innovation, very successful at cloning first movers.

There are some interesting stories in the startup world too: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/innoeco/2009/11/th...