Ask HN: If I bootstrap, does my current company own the IP for my work ?

This is a gray area. If your personal project overlaps in any way with current or potential future projects that your employer might undertake, be very, very careful.<p>I presented one such idea to an employer I worked for, and they actually created a "quitclaim deed" saying that they weren't interested in taking on the liability, and that provided I didn't use company time or facilities they didn't expect a cut of the profits or IP either. But most employers aren't that cool.<p>Many employment contracts have a clause saying that the company you work for owns any ideas you come up with related to your work while you're employed there. Make sure you take a look at your contract to see if it has such a clause.<p>The only situation I could think of where you could probably let it slide is if your project is totally unrelated to what your company does. For example you program DSPs for a living and your side project is a social networking app.<p>As for anecdotes, I haven't worked for that employer for ten years, but at the same time my side project is still in its infancy. Fortunately the technology has advanced in the intervening years to the point that it is actually practical, so hopefully I'll have a prototype done soon.

It all depends on what agreement you signed with your current employer. (If you didn't sign anything, which is unlikely, the IP is all yours.)

hey, i was in your situation (actually i had started a lot of work on my website before i started panicking about it)<p>i actually made friends with the company lawyer and asked her informally about it first. i suggest you can try first. if the work contract. then it's not unreasonable to ask for a letter from the company saying its ok... as long as you're doing a good job at work i guess it's fine (people may even see you as with a lot of initiative to be starting your own idea outside of work)<p>good luck...

Have you signed any such documents?