
Ask HN: Remote desktop into personal machine from work machine to start startup? - throwaway31916
It&#x27;s clear to me that work resources should not be used at all when starting a new company. (Or, for that matter, for anything that isn&#x27;t work related.)<p>However, dealing with multiple machines can be somewhat of a headache. What would the law say about using a work laptop, when at home, to remote desktop into a personal machine?<p>I imagine that most people here will advise against this. But where does the line get drawn? Am I allowed to access my personal Gmail account from my work machine, or would accessing my Gmail account from my work machine render every email in that account (including those pertaining to a new company) as work property?<p>I&#x27;d love to better understand the extend to which complete and total separation is necessary: including separate accounts of all sorts (email&#x2F;Dropbox&#x2F;Evernote&#x2F;etc.) and never opening the wrong account on the wrong machine.
======
trengrj
Just don't do it.

If you are creating a startup, particularly if it is in any way related to
your current work then the clear answer would be to never use any work
computers in any part of the startup.

Your workaround of just remote desktop'ing into your machine is not a good
idea. Personal emails is one thing, but if you use your work computer for
emails that are part of your other startup then you are tainting your new
business.

------
kazuyan
I suppose you are currently an employee at a company. You want to start your
new business. You are working on "the private" project while working for the
company. Your question is "Can I use my work resources for the private
project?"

All lawyer will answer "It depends". It depends on the contract you have with
the company. Usually any output generated from the work machine is considered
the IP of the company, not yours. In work contract, usually this is clearly
stated.

So the first thing to check is your contract :)

------
greenyoda
I'd advise against this unless you've cleared it with your lawyer. If you
start a successful business, you wouldn't want to lose it because of some
stupid legal technicality.

