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Don't even tell your employer about side projects. Leave them out of the loop entirely. This depends heavily on the employer. Google, for instance, is extreme

by uiri 10y ago

Don't even tell your employer about side projects. Leave them out of the loop entirely. This depends heavily on the employer. Google, for instance, is extremely friendly towards both side projects (done entirely on your own time and with your own equipment) and open source contributions done either on or off company time. I wish more employers had the same level of transparency.

curiouscat321 10y ago
How is Google so friendly towards them?
- udkl 10y ago
  It could just be the people that google attracts ? People who are constantly tinkering ... side or hobby projects could well be ingrained in the company culture ....
  - mrottenkolber 10y ago
    According to the comments in this thread google expects you to notify them when you hack on things off the job, and feels entitled to deny you those activities. Sounds quite hostile towards creative people. Nightmarish, even.
- h4nkoslo 10y ago
  Google currently has more money than God, which alleviates much cultural pressure to extract marginal revenue from, eg, employees' toy mobile apps.
beambot 10y ago
This was not the case in my experience at Google. It heavily depends on your specific group, project, and direct management hierarchy. Eg they might let you work on some open source project, but if you wanted to commercialize some side project, it's an entirely different can of worms. (And different clauses I'm your employment contract.)
mattnewton 10y ago
I still don't know how it can hurt to keep it a secret. Any assistance you could get taints the project's ownership, so it seems like you have nothing to gain by sharing and a lot to lose.
- otoburb 10y ago
  Sharing your side project and intentions with your employer satisfies "right of first refusal", which will become much more valuable to have brought up formally on the offchance emplyers attempt to sue for ownership. Also, this formalizes standing on both sides; both parties will know more clearly where each stands. Of course you may proceed without sharing, but might also end up losing more later. Calculated risk.
- CamperBob2 10y ago
  I still don't know how it can hurt to keep it a secret. The article alludes to that, albeit from the company's point of view. The same principle applies to you. If you ever want to sell your side project in the future, the buyer will put you through the wringer called "due diligence." If you were employed at XYZ Co. at the time you developed the IP being sold, part of the due-diligence process may require you to prove that XYZ Co. doesn't own the rights to it. If you kept it secret from XYZ, you won't have a signed waiver from them, so you won't be able to do that. Instead, you'll have to go back to XYZ Co., hat in hand, and ask them for a waiver now. That will be an awkward conversation.

by uiri 10y ago

curiouscat321 10y ago

How is Google so friendly towards them?

udkl 10y ago
It could just be the people that google attracts ? People who are constantly tinkering ... side or hobby projects could well be ingrained in the company culture ....
- mrottenkolber 10y ago
  According to the comments in this thread google expects you to notify them when you hack on things off the job, and feels entitled to deny you those activities. Sounds quite hostile towards creative people. Nightmarish, even.
h4nkoslo 10y ago
Google currently has more money than God, which alleviates much cultural pressure to extract marginal revenue from, eg, employees' toy mobile apps.

beambot 10y ago

This was not the case in my experience at Google. It heavily depends on your specific group, project, and direct management hierarchy. Eg they might let you work on some open source project, but if you wanted to commercialize some side project, it's an entirely different can of worms. (And different clauses I'm your employment contract.)

mattnewton 10y ago

I still don't know how it can hurt to keep it a secret. Any assistance you could get taints the project's ownership, so it seems like you have nothing to gain by sharing and a lot to lose.

otoburb 10y ago
Sharing your side project and intentions with your employer satisfies "right of first refusal", which will become much more valuable to have brought up formally on the offchance emplyers attempt to sue for ownership. Also, this formalizes standing on both sides; both parties will know more clearly where each stands. Of course you may proceed without sharing, but might also end up losing more later. Calculated risk.
CamperBob2 10y ago
I still don't know how it can hurt to keep it a secret. The article alludes to that, albeit from the company's point of view. The same principle applies to you. If you ever want to sell your side project in the future, the buyer will put you through the wringer called "due diligence." If you were employed at XYZ Co. at the time you developed the IP being sold, part of the due-diligence process may require you to prove that XYZ Co. doesn't own the rights to it. If you kept it secret from XYZ, you won't have a signed waiver from them, so you won't be able to do that. Instead, you'll have to go back to XYZ Co., hat in hand, and ask them for a waiver now. That will be an awkward conversation.