
Ask HN:Delete post - ElevenFour
Thanks everyone for the suggestions!
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gatsby
I'm a YC founder from S15 and was working at another YC company as an employee
when we got the idea to apply to YC. Not exactly the same situation, but I've
been here, and several founders in our batch went through similar situations.
Feel free to email me if you want to discuss specifics - it will remain 100%
confidential.

1.) This is really tricky from your brief description. Hire a lawyer asap if
you're even remotely serious about leaving and doing your side hustle full
time. Not trying to discourage you, but there are going to be some IP issues
to sort through that shouldn't be ignored.

2.) Ideally if you leave and apply to YC, you want to have your boss say
positive things about you. It's not just for YC: every single investor will
ask you about the jobs you've had before you started your company. If there
are any red flags that you or your company are going to get sued, they won't
invest. The best way to handle this is by ending on good terms (and ideally
getting some sort of IP release agreement with the help of a lawyer [but that
may not be feasible, given the new direction your current employer]).

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gnicholas
Former lawyer here. You should read over your employment agreement and see how
broad the IP assignment clause is. Then you should probably talk to an
employment or IP lawyer about how to proceed. Hopefully you could stay with
the company and have them "acquire" the work you've done already in this new
industry.

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philip1209
The state he works in will be important, too - right? If it's California - to
what extent are his activities outside of work protected?

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kriss9
Agreed that the IP assignment is a big issue albeit you should never join a
company to gain IP on a technology that will be used for a different industry
(i.e. all startups focus on a platform/specific technology for one industry
than move/multiply to others). In my personal opinion, it's all in how closely
related the idea is (hence the recommendations for seeking an attorney). At
the end of the day, I think you may be safe if you

A) have no specific ideas/ideals built into the software from your current
company B) do not leverage company resources, assets or even insights to have
improved the capability of your product (i.e. your knowledge is complementary,
not created or originated close to the product the company has created) C)
Prove that you deployed your product capability prior to having shifted and/or
joined the company

1) In the end, if you really are big on this -- you should probably leave the
company and be able to demonstrate to yourself and your investors that you
deployed capability (or planned product) prior to joining the company.

2) I would be less concerned here assuming your time here is under 6 months,
you can simply not choose to display it (i.e. the idea that you'll be YC ready
in the next 6 months -- enough time for you to belittle/reduce/erase the time
you were at the current company -- would mean that you're a lot further along.
Thus by the time you're YC ready, none of this will have mattered.

P.S. I think you'll be good with YC. As a member of an existing top
accelerator (Forbes B2B top rated) in Silicon Valley, most of them do not care
if you have a similar idea (speak to the impact and traction instead of the
idea), I believe your differentiation (not having taken from the company) and
purity of code (not having been influenced or using company resources) will
set you free.

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brazzledazzle
If you tell him now he should be able to tell you’ve built it over time. Who
knows, maybe you can even make a deal since it’s already a YC company. Not
entirely sure how that works but I think it goes without saying that before
you do anything you should talk to an attorney to review everything and give
you advice.

~~~
kriss9
This level of honesty and integrity is most important. Belief is the new
currency -- in your own purity (alongside others ) -- will be key

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cornellwright
Talk to an employment lawyer. Seriously, they can help shed a lot of clarity
on a situation like this.

There are a lot of different ways to game out a situation like this and they
depend a lot on your relationship with your boss, what outcome you want, and
the specifics of your agreements.

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vemv
Why not join forces? You put the existing code, he puts some experience,
clients and contacts.

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subpixel
How successful do you think your current boss is going to be in this new
market?

If you feel your own chances are somehow better than hers, then explain the
situation, and try to part on the best possible terms. Definitely talk to a
lawyer now if this is a likely course. You may not own what you think you own.

Otherwise use what you have to your advantage at the current company. Maybe
folding your work into your employers is worth additional equity or salary.

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9387367
Editing out my comment to remove OP’s identifiable info since they deleted the
post. Wise up OP. You may not get a second chance.

~~~
corndoge
This is a good point, you might want to delete this while you still can and
get advice from a lawyer.

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desdiv
Check your employment contract. If you have real money riding on your side
gig, then it might make sense to have a lawyer go over your employment
contract as well.

Worst case scenario, you find the we-own-everything-you-produce-period clause,
in which case what you did in the complimentary industry on your own time is
still the property of the company.

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jkaplowitz
The broadest versions of those clauses are invalid in some places, notably
including California. But even California allows the employer to take
ownership of certain things done on employees' own time, and many other places
do allow the broadest clauses.

So yes, I agree with the advice to consult a lawyer and bring all relevant
legalese for their review.

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cjcenizal
Have you consulted your employment agreement? It’s possible your contract
assigns this work to your employer already. You should probably consult a
lawyer on how to proceed, regardless.

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megy
How related are the two? If they are quite related, then I think that is
something you should have bought up when interviewing.

