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I'm a bit lost. What do you mean they acquired a project of yours? How did they find out about it and what made you sell (?) it to them? Did they threaten you o

I'm a bit lost. What do you mean they acquired a project of yours? How did they find out about it and what made you sell (?) it to them? Did they threaten you or did you offer it to them? In future you should tread carefully - you can't have it both ways, and it looks like you may already have set a precedent that may be difficult to defend legally speaking, if they wanted to grab your next project, and they may be in their rights to fire you if you start a company with another founder to pursue this new idea. If you are nervous about ownership keep it secret until you can launch and then resign and go at it full time or get another job with another company on different terms.

racingmachine 15y ago
It was part of me coming on board with the company, so it was a mutual thing.
- chris_dcosta 15y ago
  I saw you changed the wording of your question. It's a bit clearer now. I can see the flexibility of wanting to join as an employee whilst your product was purchased by your employer rather than as a founder/director, but I question your employer's motives for proposing this. It's still not clear if you were paid for the acquisition or it was a gift from you. If your salary is sort of counted as payment for the product, then you are working for free. Do you see the issue? In short I would be pretty annoyed, because they appear to have let's say convinced you that this is a good deal when in fact you stand to lose quite a lot. If the product is so good they better be compensating you way beyond a normal salary. If they are compensating you well then actually you might be on to a winner, in the sense that you already have a potential buyer for your next venture, but you need to get the agreement to build a Proof of Concept that you own. That way you give them the choice but retain ownership until you want to release it.

racingmachine 15y ago

It was part of me coming on board with the company, so it was a mutual thing.

chris_dcosta 15y ago
I saw you changed the wording of your question. It's a bit clearer now. I can see the flexibility of wanting to join as an employee whilst your product was purchased by your employer rather than as a founder/director, but I question your employer's motives for proposing this. It's still not clear if you were paid for the acquisition or it was a gift from you. If your salary is sort of counted as payment for the product, then you are working for free. Do you see the issue? In short I would be pretty annoyed, because they appear to have let's say convinced you that this is a good deal when in fact you stand to lose quite a lot. If the product is so good they better be compensating you way beyond a normal salary. If they are compensating you well then actually you might be on to a winner, in the sense that you already have a potential buyer for your next venture, but you need to get the agreement to build a Proof of Concept that you own. That way you give them the choice but retain ownership until you want to release it.