Legality of starting a startup at FAANGM
Feb 14, 2020
If you start a tech based side business/startup while employed at FAANG, what are the legal consequences ? Can you actually do it ? Does your FAANG employer have a high probability of claiming ownership of the startup (Pied Piper style!) ?
#faang #startup #google #microsoft #facebook #netflix
comments
The smart move is get your company kicked off and test your idea, the majority of them will fall on their face. If you get traction/revenue then you quit before you have built much in real ‘worth’. This really minimizes what they can come after you for to the point it isnt worth the leg work.
There are plenty of factors:
- What does your employment agreement say,
- What’s the nature of your new business,
- What’s the nature of your work and relationship with your employer,
- Can you do it through an LLC, an offshore LLC merely operating in the US?
- Other owners?
- Did you use any of your work tools or information specific and unique to the company you work for in coming up with your your idea?
It’s not “wildly illegal” but you should absolutely work with counsel to make sure you don’t blow yourself up.
Don’t let lawyers bully you, your employer generally has no speciality to enjoin you from free enterprise.