Conference coffee chats and NDAs: when a handshake is not enough
Conferences compress a month of intros into two days. Someone sits down with a coffee. Five minutes later you have described a customer, a pipeline, or a product that is not public. A handshake is social. It is not a confidentiality agreement.
When you can skip the NDA
Skip it for true small talk: who you are, what category you work in, whether the keynote was any good. Skip it for a first investor chat if that firm’s known policy is not to sign (and then share less — see deal-flow confidentiality). Skip it if you are only exchanging public URLs.
When you should not skip it
- You are about to walk through a live product or unreleased roadmap
- Customer names, pricing, or win/loss detail will come up
- The other person is a potential partner, vendor, or contractor, not a casual peer
- You would be uncomfortable seeing the conversation in a group chat tonight
Keep the interruption shorter than the latte
The reason people skip NDAs at events is friction: “I’ll send one after.” After never comes, or it comes after the story has already been told. Instant NDA is meant for that table. Start a session, show a QR or read a join code, both sign on phones, PDFs land in email. The other person does not create an account. That is the whole in-person signing flow.
Practice the one-liner so it does not feel stiff: “Before we get into the product, quick mutual NDA — two minutes, copies to both of us.” People who deal in real information usually nod.
After the chat
You now have a dated PDF and a shared understanding. Follow up on the substance, not on “did you get the DocuSign.” If the conversation turns into a real engagement, layer a proper commercial agreement on top. The event NDA did its job: it covered the hallway.
Next time you would otherwise say “let’s just talk,” open Instant NDA first. How it works is three steps.
Instant NDA is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Event conversations vary; you decide when a written agreement is appropriate.