About

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The heart of a thriving entrepreneurial community is collaboration.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the same ideas about how to collaborate effectively and ethically.  It isn’t that there are bad actors lurking around every corner, it is just that we all have different ideas about how to do it.

Wouldn’t it be great if we all shared the same etiquette and understanding about collaboration?

Wouldn’t it be great if we could Collaborate with Confidence?

The Ethical Collaboration Association was created to codify and standardize the collaboration process with a goal of giving everyone the confidence that they know the rules of the game.

Ethical Collaboration tears down the walls of collaboration, provides free and low-cost solutions to protect collaborators, and educates the community about how to collaborate well.

This 501(c)3 non-profit was created from the stunning realization that one of the core tenants of the startup community – collaboration – actually HURTS the intellectual property of entrepreneurs.  And that most collaborative groups – startup accelerators, incubators, coworking spaces – were unaware of the possible risks or were not educating their participants about potential issues.

The Ethical Collaboration Community Agreement is an agreement that everyone signs to become a member.  Once signed, you can start collaborating with other members and know – with confidence – that:

1. Your intellectual property is protected.
2. When helping someone – or being helped by someone – ideas are given without strings.
3. If there is an issue, everyone agrees to use mediation and arbitration – not the court system – to talk things through and settle our differences.

How are we funded?

We are funded through donations as well as for certifications, educational programming, and other products.  Many of our products have an optional donation.

Who are we?

Russ Krajec is the executive director of the Ethical Collaboration Association, Inc.  Russ is the author of “Investing in Patents”, and is the CEO of BlueIron, a patent finance company.  Russ is a practicing patent attorney and former COO of Concurix, a software startup company.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]