I agree, If you are partnering with a firm, or retaining a firm who will have access to company private information and they won't sign an NDA that's a red flag. <a href="http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2008/01/08/we-sign-ndas/" rel="nofollow">http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2008/01/08/we-sign-ndas/</a><p>That being said you should be able to have one or more conversations where you don't disclose private information so that both sides can evaluate whether a relationship makes sense.