This is a gray area. If your personal project overlaps in any way with current or potential future projects that your employer might undertake, be very, very ca

This is a gray area. If your personal project overlaps in any way with current or potential future projects that your employer might undertake, be very, very careful. I presented one such idea to an employer I worked for, and they actually created a "quitclaim deed" saying that they weren't interested in taking on the liability, and that provided I didn't use company time or facilities they didn't expect a cut of the profits or IP either. But most employers aren't that cool. Many employment contracts have a clause saying that the company you work for owns any ideas you come up with related to your work while you're employed there. Make sure you take a look at your contract to see if it has such a clause. The only situation I could think of where you could probably let it slide is if your project is totally unrelated to what your company does. For example you program DSPs for a living and your side project is a social networking app. As for anecdotes, I haven't worked for that employer for ten years, but at the same time my side project is still in its infancy. Fortunately the technology has advanced in the intervening years to the point that it is actually practical, so hopefully I'll have a prototype done soon.