I wonder what role an NDA played. Any ideas? I know in startup-land NDAs are non-existent, but in my past life as a product manager for a medium sized company, the biz dev guys would always have an NDA signed before letting the company get too close with a new partner. Maybe new-world startups should have NDAs when working with old-world big cos (where NDAs are common and prevalent, and maybe even respected)? No idea here, just hoping to hear some enlightened thoughts.

Edit: clarity.