If there’s nothing in the contract or IP agreement with your current employer saying you can’t work for other companies on your own time, and that the work you

If there’s nothing in the contract or IP agreement with your current employer saying you can’t work for other companies on your own time, and that the work you do on your own time isn’t owned by them, then I don’t see any legal grounds they’d have to say no to you doing this. However, that’s different from the company’s general attitude they might have with you doing this. Do you find the founders or managers of the company are laid back enough that you can just casually let them know you’ll be doing some contract work in your own time? If not, from personal experience, they may be the type of company to reprimand you if they find out. I also recommend talking to a lawyer about this as they will cut right through the thorny issues and tell you what’s what with your contracts.