[ryandrake]

This path is also fraught with legal risk, depending on your "normal 9-5" employer. If it's a FAANG or other large tech company, most of them (at least the ones I've worked for) lay claim to every single IP you create while working there, on or off the clock, using your own equipment or theirs. It doesn't matter whether or not they legally can--you are unlikely to be able to afford a legal defense against them.

[OkayPhysicist]

California has pretty friendly laws on this. Unless your startup is directly competing with your employer, or you work on it at work, they have very little ground to stand on. As in "within the realm of someone representing themselves"-type deal.

[LastNevadan]

You're presumably referring to California Civil Code §2870 [1].

When I had a side project going on and asked my California attorney if this was enough to protect me from my BigCo employer, she said something like, "No. If they want to stop you they'll just drown you in legal procedures that you can't afford to pay. That you're right isn't really that relevant."

[1] https://casetext.com/statute/california-codes/california-lab...

[encoderer]

Definitely a risk - just not one I rate too high if there is no overlap in the business.

[flashgordon]

Except when you are at a faang almost anything can be seen as competition. It is quite miraculous that the Crontic founders employer was this lax!

[encoderer]

Yeah you need to be aware of what contracts you have signed. In my case, the day we launched on HN in 2014 I notified my VP (via email), highlighted how this work is not related to the company at all, and I only worked on it at home with my own equipment. I asked him to release any IP claims and he replied in minutes and said it looks great and that I’m free to pursue it.

And that was the end of it.

I would not let fear of legal reprisal stop me from starting.

[fourseventy]

No its not. Just dont sign any rediculous IP assignment documents. These are illegal in a lot of states now anyway.