We don't have to go back to my younger self: I constantly have to advise YC startups about this.
What I tell them is short enough to put here. The only effective protection is secrecy. But you never want to seem overtly secretive. So the optimal policy is to seem to be explaining everything about what you're doing, but to omit the important but non-obvious details that you get right but someone trying to reproduce your project would initially get wrong. By definition, no one who's not an expert will notice when such details are omitted.
Part 2: Err on the side of openness. Your valuable secrets are not as valuable as you think, and the danger of telling people stuff is not as great as you think.
What I tell them is short enough to put here. The only effective protection is secrecy. But you never want to seem overtly secretive. So the optimal policy is to seem to be explaining everything about what you're doing, but to omit the important but non-obvious details that you get right but someone trying to reproduce your project would initially get wrong. By definition, no one who's not an expert will notice when such details are omitted.
Part 2: Err on the side of openness. Your valuable secrets are not as valuable as you think, and the danger of telling people stuff is not as great as you think.