HN Explorer

Ask HN: Can I work on my startup while employed?

1 points by softwareman ↗ HN
What would you do personally? Few points: - Its not a competitive product. - I will not use any company resources at all. - I will work on my idea only on my personal time.

Is it not completely my legal right to do whatever the hell I wish to do unless its not harming my employer. I feel I should have the legal right to even build another business if I wish to do so (obviously not in the same space).

Thoughts? Any thing except "go see a lawyer".

4 comments

[ 5.0 ms ] story [ 24.5 ms ] thread
facorreia
Without knowing more about your jurisdiction (country and state) and your employment contract, the most the can be said is that it depends on your jurisdiction's laws and your employment contract's clauses.
tlb
Your employment contract may assign all inventions you make during the period of your employment to your employer, which will cause you a lot of trouble if the startup succeeds. The contract probably has a mechanism for excluding certain projects. At the least, you should get your startup on this list.
jey
This can depend on the local laws. For example, in California anything you do on your own time using your own resources is your own property (there can be some exceptions, consult a lawyer).
wutangson1
Yes, you are within your legal rights, as you say, "to do whatever the hell you wish to do." Unless, as the others who have made comments indicate, you have signed away that right in your contract somehow- via IP assignment rights, etc.

If you don't want to 'go see a lawyer', you may want to check out an item posted to HN last week- from This Week in Startups, "5 Biggest Legal Mistakes That Startups Make" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F_vbfiScoA#t=746 Specifically, what you want starts at the 10:20 mark.

Also, if you feel that your employer is the type to create problems for you, it would be a good idea to be strict about not using company resources at all. Even though other employees may be doing it, don't google things on the company computer that can be traced back to your project.