I'm in the business of backing great teams, not stealing from them. In other words, you're going to have to trust me.

You've come to my place, at my invitation, so that we can talk about your idea. We drink a little coffee, we trade pleasantries, and then, when the talk becomes serious, you pull out an NDA. The Non-Disclosure Agreement is a staple of business everywhere. Your idea is valuable; you need to protect it.

So why am I exiting the room 10 minutes later?

There are two basic facts you need to understand.

First, my job as a professional investor is to look at as many investment opportunities as possible. We call this deal flow. And there can never be enough. An NDA kills deal flow. It limits what I can look at, discuss with my partners and outside advisers, and eventually execute some level of due diligence upon. I can’t run my business with handcuffs on. (As a side note, if I am good and I create buckets of deal flow, and I sign NDA’s for some amount of them, I now have to remember what I can talk about and what I cannot.)

So either you understand that or you think that you are special and should be an exception.

Second, I am in the business of backing great teams working on great ideas. Inherent in this new relationship is trust. I am not going to steal your idea. I don’t have time to build a company--I invest in companies. I am not in the business of pitching your idea to others to build. And most important, if I did this just once, I would be labeled and my deal flow would disappear.

What does this mean for you?

Keep the NDA in your pocket for future contractors, employees, and business partners. You got that meeting with an investor? Congratulations, you have made it past gate No. 1. Now, sell that investor on yourself and your idea.

Thinking of starting a company? There are many things you need to consider, but first, are you even ready?

As a recovering serial entrepreneur, the unsolicited question I get asked most often is some version of: "How do I know if it's the right time to start my own business?"

You'd think this would be a hard question to answer. After all, everyone who asks has differing motivations, different plans, different resources--so the answer has to be different for each person, right?

Surprisingly, I find that isn't the case. For most people, the answer is the same. It comes in four parts (the kicker is in the first part):

1. If you have to ask, the time isn't now. Trust this simple rule.

The time to launch your own business is when you no longer need to ask anyone's advise, because you're in a position where you can't not do it.

Put simply, when the time is right, every sinew and tendon in your body, every thought, every synapse, will scream it--and you won't need to ask anyone else's opinion.

Don't get me wrong, asking questions is good (see point four below), but asking this question is a sure sign the time isn't right...yet.

2. There will never be a "right time." Conversely, it's essential to understand that there is no "right time" to launch a new business. There is no ideal economic environment, no perfect market window, no flawless product idea that will guarantee your new business will be a success.

Mediocre products launched in a down economy can be the platform for a successful business (I know, I've been there, multiple times); insanely brilliant products launched in a roaring bull market can collapse like a badly made souffle (been there too, sadly).

The "right time" is when you're ready--no more, no less. Don't look outside for indications as to when the time is right to launch your own business. Look inside, to your own desires and commitment. Launch when you can't not launch, and don't get hung up on the externals.

3. Read this book. While you're waiting for your own "right time", do yourself a huge favor and read this book: The Entrepreneur Equation by Carol Roth is the best guide there is on the considerations to take into account before launching a new venture.

Don't let the cover confuse you. This is tough love for any wannabe entrepreneur. If you can finish this book and still say that you are committed to launching your own business, then your chance of success will be considerably improved. (Fair disclosure, the author is a friend, but we became friends after I read and admired her book.)

4. Come back for advice after you've launched. As we've already established, the fact that you're asking probably means that now is not the right time for you to launch a business, but that doesn't mean that asking questions is wrong.

Quite the opposite. Asking questions after you've launched is essential if you are to move from start-up to viable business. Too many founder/owners launch their new business in "broadcast" mode: "Here we are, here's what we do, aren't we great, buy my product (or service)."

It's like an obnoxious first date with someone intent on bragging to you about all they've achieved, and boasting about all their great attributes.

To succeed, and to get your new business out of what I call Early Struggle, a monologue won't cut it. You need to be in a dialogue: with your potential customers and clients; with your supply chain; with your funders; and yes, with other people who have been there, and done that.

So, while this may not be the right time for you to start your own business, who knows, maybe it will be - in two weeks, two months, two years from now. And when the time is right, you will come back and ask questions, won't you? I'd love for us to have a dialogue.

Office bullies don't just make life miserable for their victims, say a pair of new studies, they also infect a wider circle of colleagues with their nastiness.

This time of year viruses carry health misery around offices, but according to the latest science, it's not just the flu that's catching. A wide range of behavior, from laughter through obesity, has been shown to spread through networks much like the latest bug.

And now, according to recent studies, we can add one more item to the list of the highly contagious: being a jerk.

You know that an obnoxious boss can make life miserable for his or her direct reports, but new research covered at length in HBR this month, shows that tormented victims are actually more likely to engage in office nastiness themselves, thereby spreading the unpleasantness in a widening circle around an organization.

A blog post by the studies authors, Christine Porath and Christine Pearson, sums up the findings: "stress isn't the only reason people are uncivil at work. In our current HBR article, we present research findings that about one in four people are rude because their bosses are rude. Employees notice what seems to be working then they follow that lead, for better or worse." They go on to offer suggestions for individuals and organizations to counter this effect.

Porath and Pearson aren't the only researchers to document this secondhand rudeness. WebMD recently reported new research from University of New Hampshire organizational behavior professor Paul Harvey which likewise shows that jerks infect their colleagues with their bullying behavior.

"Abusive bosses not only cause misery for the employees they target, but they also poison the work environment for the victims' co-workers," reports the article. How? The researchers write: "Employees realize that the organization is allowing this negative treatment to exist, even if they are not experiencing it directly."

The takeaway here for business owners isn't a mystery. Obviously, if you're guilty of occasional nastiness yourself, cut it out immediately. You're doing more harm than you may have realized. But even if you're the picture of civility yourself, these latest findings are more evidence tipping the scales towards a zero tolerance policy for jerks at your company, even if they're high-performing jerks.

Have you noticed bad behavior spread this way in your own professional life?

The flu outbreak made me pause and consider another powerful contagion.

Lately, you can't turn on the TV without hearing about a flu outbreak. Most people can relate to being busy at work and hesitating to take a sick day, but this often cuts even deeper for entrepreneurs. Big corporations can typically float the costs of an ill employee's decreased productivity or absence better than a small business--let alone a solo shop.

So, similar to deciding when the physical symptoms of an illness require a day off, how can you determine when your employees' attitudes are just too negative to come into the office? Let's all admit it, there is a time and a place for taking "mental health days."

Here are my thoughts on when to hit pause at work due to stress or bad attitude, as inspired by a list of tips from WebMD on when one's "Too Sick To Work."

Threat Level 1: Proceed with caution.

How well can you carry out your work duties?Although I generally have a sunny disposition, sometimes I wake up feeling "off." So just as I pop vitamin C when I feel an unidentified tickle in the back of my throat, I similarly take a moment to nip nascent negativity in the bud before it can proliferate. Typically, this is as straightforward as addressing a residual concern that I haven't been able to shake: squashing a small argument with my husband, scheduling a meeting with one of my sons' teachers, or putting a card in the mail to a friend who's been on my mind. Once I resolve such issues, my mind is more at ease, and I can re-focus on work.

Threat Level 2: Limit interaction.

Are you contagious?At other times, I discover that my mood is so funky as to likely "infect" my staff and clients. Even if I feel like I can't afford to disconnect 100%, I force myself to at least take a break...which on hectic days takes herculean effort! Often I can remedy things with a quick and dirty fix: rearranging my day to limit interaction. I focus on solo projects; postpone meetings; disconnect from email; and if possible, work outside and soak in the healing benefits of sunshine. The feeling that we can't afford to unexpectedly disconnect means we've either lost perspective by overestimating our importance, or that our business model is dangerously askew. CEOs shouldn't be so critical to daily operations that our staffs can't step up and handle such unforeseen breaks! Plus, our staffs will be thankful that we had enough regard for their health that we didn't allow our funky attitudes to spread.

Threat Level 3: Quarantine yourself.

Will resting at home help your body to overcome the illness? OK, I admit it: there have been days when my attitude renders me almost completely ineffective. Thankfully, this only happens once or twice a year, and when it does, the decision is made for me...I take a day off and re-calibrate! I implore fellow entrepreneurs who find themselves feeling this way to take at least one day to get it together. Just like driving when you're angry, working when your mind's not right can be downright dangerous. It may feel like you can't afford a day off for a mental, vs. physical, issue. But in fact, "working when awry" can cause much costlier damage. We are much more likely to make rash (and potentially costly) business decisions, lose our tempers, or give an unsuspecting new client the false impression that this temporary foul attitude is part of our modus operandi. In hindsight, the mental health days I've taken have been worthwhile--without fail.

When entrepreneurs aren't feeling well mentally, we must protect ourselves, our teams, and our businesses by "treating others as we would want to be treated." Do you have strategies for preventing bad attitudes from infecting your company? Please share a comment below, or on Twitter or Facebook.