Ask HN: How to validate a startup idea whilst employed?

Post by junofan » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 1:37 PM UTC

laserlight wrote: post #103

s1artibartfast wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is pretty common in most US states to own ip developed outside work hours. The concept is pretty simple: by default, your employer is paying you for the ideas you generate, and this could happen at home. Imagine you work in cold fusion research and you spend your days performing tests and reading papers. If you have a dream and wake up with a solution, this is part of what your employer has been paying you for, an…

In case I couldn't make it clear so far, I defend that either of the following conditions should hold for employer to claim rights: (a) IP is developed using company resources (time, equipment, etc.) or (b) IP is within the scope of company's business. > your employer is paying you for the ideas you generate, and this could happen at home. If employer's idea is about company's business, then yes, I would say that the…

Post by AlchemistCamp » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 1:55 PM UTC

steve_taylor wrote: post #41

Don't tell your employer. Don't incorporate until after you've quit your job. If you want to launch before quitting your job, consider using a merchant of record (e.g. Paddle) so you don't even need to incorporate. I'm assuming you're not competing with your employer, nor are you building your startup on your employer's time or with your employer's resources, in which case there's nothing wrong with this approach eth…

Post by zamfi » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 1:59 PM UTC

alfiedotwtf wrote: post #87

vfc1 wrote: post #61

Don't overthink it. You can validate the idea using SEO tools, check if the competitors have traffic and do some detective work to see if they are viable companies. Check the SEO space, and see how many people are running ads on the main search terms, how hard is it to rank for the the main keywords. Check if forums exists, and discount coupons for similar products in marketplaces, check for similar products on produ…

> Your boss does not care about your side project, as long as you get the job done. But for you to feel better, don't put your name on it until you have quit your job, it's the internet you can still be anonymous. > No company is going to waste their time and expensive legal resources gratuitously suing you for a side project, unless it's something blatant that directly impacts their bottom line. Don't be so sure. So…

Post by tommoor » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 2:07 PM UTC

Post by throwawaymaths » Sun, Sep 18, 2022, 2:12 PM UTC

gnicholas wrote: post #23

throwawaymaths wrote: post #14

IANAL. Make sure you put in a carveout for every repo you have in GitHub. It helps to have a lot of public ones, then roll in your private ones into the list. Even if you have to pivot one of your private accounts, you get legal cover for working on it. Odds are the legal team won't bother checking on the contents of every single enumerated repo, and it would be insane to not hire you when you have those repos. I rec…

I wonder how this would work if you have a bunch of shell repos where you can add whatever you want later. That is, your employer surely wouldn't be fine with you creating a competing product based on trade secrets that you were exposed to as an employee, just because it resides in a repo that existed prior to your employment. > it would be insane to not hire you when you have those repos. My hiring at a large softwa…