In every successful partnership, there are two people. The artist—the one who seeks to express, to create, to design. Then there is the businessman—the logic, the thoughts, the one who actually seeks out monetization.

Examples range where the power shifts. The artist wants to give away work for free in order to benefit the community. The businessman is hesitant—nothing should ever be given away for free.

At a food blogger meetup recently, a guy with background in law advised us: “Protect yourself.”

When I challenged him with examples of artistic expression and community benefit, he told the story of a man who came up with an idea of a blender-type fan in the toilet. As a lover of Jamba Juice, he went there every day ordering the same smoothie. However, one day, he felt sick from a smoothie that tasted off. Several hours later, he started having diarrhea. Inspired by the blenders at Jamba Juice, he thought the blender blades would work well in a toilet.

Arbitrarily, he went to the patent lawyers, who completed the patent application pro bono (since the man had zero income). Many of the lawyers were skeptical. Toilets have been around for years without blades. Yet a few months after the patent was completed, the firm received a call from a company interested in licensing the idea. Before the lawyer offered a number, the company immediately offered a million dollars to start plus royalties for every use.

The guy at the food blogger meetup finished his story with, “And that’s why you want to protect yourself.”