But my team is currently kicking at least reasonable amounts of ass, and is well-supported by management. While there are some alarmingly dumb ideas imposed on us from above, for the most part I am getting to implement my ideas. I have a pretty great salary. I believe we're helping ordinary people. I would be really annoyed if I had to leave it now, because I think we're maybe a year away from having a really great solution in our market.
Now what?
I find the hardest challenge when I start a part-time project is staying motivated at the day job. If you're happy there and can achieve this balance then you have the benefit of both worlds.
Other companies and organizations only care about the work you do while on the job (9-5 or whatever) and theoretically have no legal ground to claim ownership on outside projects provided you never do work on those projects while "on the job." Obviously the word "work" in this context could have many different meanings... (I am not a lawyer)
For many potential investors, that won't be enough. They won't touch you without ironclad assurance of clear ownership of IP.
I stand by my original comment. It doesn't matter who's right or wrong. Can you really afford spending any time in your first 2 years on legal matters regarding IP ownership? Believe me, there are people out there that will do ANYTHING to steal from you. Why tempt them?
1. If you are working on your own time, and NOT using company equipment. 2. The idea is original, and did NOT came from copying something from the company. 3. The idea is not a direct competitor of what your company is doing.
You can be pretty safe. It will be hard for your company to claim anything on your work.
What would happen if Oracle decided that it wanted the company? Does any startup have the resources to duke it out with Oracle for the years it will take to resolve the issue? Would any investor put money into a company that had a dispute with Oracle, even if Oracle's claim was without much merit?
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read this for what it is like to go head-to-head with a megacorp (about the inventor of Intermittent Windshield Wipers):
- You like your work.
- You are making good money.
- You like your co-workers.
If I were in your position, I'd get part of the money you are making in the day job and use to invest in the ideas you're thinking about. You could easily hire someone (or could even be a co-founder) to work full-time on these ideas and keep that as a side business.
Your answer is sitting there in your words. Keep your day job for a year or a year and a half. Then ask yourself the question again.
If you need a project, focus on cutting your expenses. Learn to budget. Learn to cook. Pay off the credit cards. Move to a less expensive apartment. Every dollar you cut from the budget is not just a dollar you get to save for when you're self-employed, but a dollar that you won't be spending when you're self-employed, because you won't be in the habit of spending it.
If "storm clouds are on the horizon" then there's a chance you'll get laid off in the next year. Then you can collect unemployment while you're looking for a day job that doesn't restrict your extracurricular activities. If you quit now, you'd have to do that anyway, without the benefit of the insurance.
I would listen to the lawyers and not-a-lawyers in this thread: Don't do startup work while you're still employed at the company.
In this case, it sounds like you have a project you want to get done. Get it done. Then go on to something new. If you have a PHB kill the project, or otherwise remove your delight in it, use that as the catalyst to move on.
Or, if you wake up one morning realizing that you have to do that startup right now then do it.
The Perforce[2] founders were among them.
Your situation sounds a little like theirs - they were reasonably happy. But when CA handed them the perfect opportunity, they used the money from their severence package to jumpstart the "p3" product. p3 was renamed Perforce/p4 when they discovered p3 was already trademarked.
[1] - http://www.cbronline.com/article_cg.asp?guid=A29F1ABE-CF37-4...
