Not a start up per se, but my Medium blog is fairly profitable, ~2k on a good month.
Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job?
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Re: Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job?
#92Not a start up per se, but my Medium blog is fairly profitable, ~2k on a good month.
Can't tell if you're serious or not. Is there a way for people to monetize their Medium blogs? If so, what's yours about?
Re: Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job?
#93[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job?
#94Tread carefully. If you’re going to do this, read your current employment agreement carefully especially the parts about Intellectual Property. Every medium-to-large company I have worked at has asserted ownership of everything I build, at work or away from work, using my own equipment, on my own time—it doesn't matter. If your employer can imagne a conflict of interest (for example could what you are working on pote…
I would think that the first step would be talking with your employer. (I what you are working on is not related to your work)
It’s a great litmus year to see if your employer is a bully or not.
Re: Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job?
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand this how the hell would they even know what you are doing at home? If your home project gains a little traction to financially support you then you quit the day job, and don't tell them anything. If not then it's some private home project you do. Can't believe you are making decisions on what you do at home based on some company that could easily disappear, lay you off, get sold, etc etc, before yo…
You can bet any decent sized company will have people keeping an eye out on ex-employees whose home projects miraculously gain WhatsApp-levels of traction. If you look to take on VC funding, I guarantee during the DD process they will ask you if you built any of the product while employed elsewhere, and if so, they’ll want to see your old employment agreement.
> whose home projects miraculously gain WhatsApp-levels of traction
Surely there is some middle ground between a $22 billion dollar company and a lifestyle business that generates $500k-$1m a year in revenue. Also if your company is WhatsApp level pretty sure you can afford a team of $500 an hour lawyers.
Re: Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job?
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
Put it in your contract before you get employed. If starting a company while employed, reach out to your employer saying you're building company X which does Y as a side project and you need a document stating no IP ownership.
No employer I have ever worked for would even consider modifying this language in their agreement. They are going to have a standard boilerplate and if you try to negotiate or modify it they will tell you “sign it unmodified or GTFO.” Ask me how I know :-)
I can confirm that. Two of the top 5 US tech companies told me to sign it as-is or GTFO.
Re: Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job?
#97Tread carefully. If you’re going to do this, read your current employment agreement carefully especially the parts about Intellectual Property. Every medium-to-large company I have worked at has asserted ownership of everything I build, at work or away from work, using my own equipment, on my own time—it doesn't matter. If your employer can imagne a conflict of interest (for example could what you are working on pote…
"asserted ownership of everything I build, at work or away from work, using my own equipment, on my own time—it doesn't matter" That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Assuming you're not stealing technology, or doing it on their time or machines, there is no way a court would uphold that. If I build a house, or rebuild a car in my off time, they own that too? Corporations don't own your entire life.
This blog post has a decent explanation of the rationale for why they are written that way: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/developers-side-pr...
Re: Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job?
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the flip side, no sane company is going to sue a former (or current) employee for IP ownership over work they did in their off hours - especially if it isn't directly related to the company's own business.
They could file the suit and then drop it last second. Most large companies have several lawyers on staff, so it's not really any additional cost.
Sure, they could, but they could do that whether or not there's verbiage about it in your contract. This is a problem with balance of power between large corporations and individuals, not with the contract conditions.
Re: Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job?
#99I built Artpip ( https://artpip.com ) whilst working fulltime. Spent the odd weeknight and some weekends developing it over the course of a few months, then the same again when I added the pro mode once I realised it could actually make me some money. Not sure you could classify it as a startup, but it makes me a few hundred dollars per month. I'd actually love to grow it more but I'm not sure what the best direction…
That's cool! Where do your source your images from?
Re: Ask HN: Who here has built a profitable startup while keeping their day job?
#100Tread carefully. If you’re going to do this, read your current employment agreement carefully especially the parts about Intellectual Property. Every medium-to-large company I have worked at has asserted ownership of everything I build, at work or away from work, using my own equipment, on my own time—it doesn't matter. If your employer can imagne a conflict of interest (for example could what you are working on pote…
Put it in your contract before you get employed. If starting a company while employed, reach out to your employer saying you're building company X which does Y as a side project and you need a document stating no IP ownership.
My ex-boss had an offer rescinded when he declared his personal IP on the form provided by the company. He had told interviewers about his significant IP/projects. Interviewers thought that was no problem.
On the first day of his job, he filled out a form declaring his current IP. Some HR/lawyer reviewed it and a week later he was let go. No real reason was given. But he spent his first week answering questions related to his projects, so it is pretty obvious they were worried about it.