I'm actually working on a blog post about this now, but don't have it done... Having gone through this process twice, if the employer has a decent lawyer at al

I'm actually working on a blog post about this now, but don't have it done... Having gone through this process twice, if the employer has a decent lawyer at all, they're not going to go along with "fencing of what is theirs and you keeping control of everything else". If they have decent lawyers, they're probably also going to object to altering a boiler plate contract, since setting it up and getting the terms right probably cost them a good amount of money. In most cases, the most palatable suggestion is to get a document together carving out certain areas that will belong to you (farm animal social networking), but you'll have to ask for more documentation if you come up ideas in other areas. With any legal issue, the most important thing is to get a loose agreement face-to-face before getting the lawyers involved. If you go straight to the legal paperwork, you'll waste a bunch of your and their money on redlines and legal arguments. Get in a room with your future boss or the CEO and make sure they're OK with you working on a startup and that they're willing to help you legally protect it. If they're not on board, you're wasting your time. I once made the mistake of going to lawyers before checking on those things and it cost me a lot of money when they decided two months later that they weren't willing to amend the IP contract. I agree 100% with the suggestion to negotiate a 1099, as the contract for that already takes care of limiting IP better than a full time contract.