I'm depressed
I live in Toronto, I worked day and night for a startup (still not making any significant money) for 3-4 years for 4% shares (All talk, never signed anywhere it says I have 4%).
I worked a few months unpaid and then a few months for 1k and 2k a month which is nothing for a software engineer.
I started to feel like I was grinding myself for nothing as years and months passed.
I was turning 25 soon and If I needed to get married, I needed to have a stable life and take things under my control. I started my own company (which has nothing to do with his startup).
My company is getting excellent traction and when he discovered that I have this company that is doing really well. He threatened to take my startup because I used his hours to build my startup.
I told him, that a lot of people start their companies this way, they do it on the side and then leave their jobs eventually as the startup gets stable. He says it is the law that If you use a company's resources or time to make anything, your thing is technically ours.
I spent my early 20s for nothing and now when I have something going, I have this issue over my head.
My ex-employer threatens me take my startup
byu/No_Load3387 inEntrepreneur
Posted by No_Load3387
18 Comments
Does he proof that you used either company resources or company time to build your startup, if he doesn’t then you don’t owe him anything, you could even start a suit for unpaid wages.
Just say that you done it just in the weekends, so outside working days as a hobby and entirely created with chat gpt, be smart with your words, weekends are not working days and chat gpt don’t use resources from them easy, as a hobby is not seen as a competitor
I would suggest posting this in r/legaladvicecanada
I Remember when Richard Hendricks lost Pied Piper because he used a Hooli computer.
That is all.
Don’t immediately believe what people tell you at face value. If they were truly serious, they wouldn’t warn you. They would immediately go to court. Dude is trying to strong arm you into handing it over without a fight.
You need to get a lawyer involved, because it all may depend on your employment contract. Don’t give up yet! 💪
>He says it is the law that If you use a company’s resources or time to make anything, your thing is technically ours.
Ya, tell him to come back with his lawyer.
>I told him, that a lot of people start their companies this way, they do it on the side and then leave their jobs eventually as the startup gets stable.
That really depends on your employment contract.
Sorry, but I find this post really funny. So basically you’re saying you worked for a startup, you didn’t even get paid appropriately for all the time there and now the guy is threatening to take your startup because you supposedly built it in that time he didn’t pay you?
I don’t live in Canada, nor am I a legal expert, but this just sounds like some major league bullshit. If I were you, I would just give the guy a cucumber and tell him to go fuck himself with it.
Again, I don’t live in Canada so you can take what I say with a grain of salt. “Stuff you build with company time” generally applies only to intellectual property. A company is not intellectual property first of all, so he can’t “own” your startup.
In the absolute best case scenario (for him), if for example your company is a SaaS company and if he can prove you wrote portions of your SaaS product during hours he was actually paying you for, he might be entitled to some damages, but definitely not your entire company.
Neither of you are correct. If your post isn’t the usual “Am I The Asshole” fake ragebait then you need to get legal representation immediately. If your employer is serious about taking your company, they’d have already started proceedings against you. Talk to an attorney/solicitor in your jurisdiction. Bring any contracts or paperwork or employee handbook you have with your current employer. You sign nothing with your current employer from this point forward.
In the past, I’ve had various entrepreneurs attempt to strongarm me into turning over IP I’ve built. And in my youth, I argued back and nobody went home happy. Now, where I am in life, the moment someone threatens my livelihood, attempts to lay claim to things that aren’t theirs, or tries to strongarm or abuse me, the only path forward and the very next is to cut contact, walk away, and any and all communication from that point on goes through my attorney.
You may not have that option, but if there is one piece of advice I could give my younger self, it would be “walk away, talk to your attorney, don’t let them take what you worked hard to build.”
There is no such law that states anything you do on company equipment automatically belongs to the company. You may have signed a contract that says that. You better hope you can look your attorney in the eye and tell him the truth that you didn’t. That said, even then it isn’t cut and dry. And if you didn’t sign any kind of IP assignment paperwork, and even that will have limits within the law, and it sounds like this guy is a shyster so you probably didn’t, then he doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
> (All talk, never signed anywhere it says I have 4%)
This sounds like you don’t have any legal contract with the “employer” ergo, the other party is all bluster and bully boy tactics. I suggest you walk away as fast as you can.
Again, if you’re serious, go get an attorney, you aren’t going to find sage wisdom on Reddit for free.
Get a lawyer. Not Reddit. Get a lawyer.
why dont you just tell him its not yours.. tell him im your boss… bobuy is the owner and you work for me for free… 😛
Get another job and be careful who you discuss your startup to. If no one asks, don’t say a damn thing.
You just pulled a typical Jeet thing bro! If you had it in your contract that you will be just working for him then you are in deep *&^*(&
When you join a new company and they present you with their “standard” contract, keep an eye out for IP clauses which state that everything you do on company time belongs to them.
Just be up front with them and calmly state that you didn’t know they were asking you to be a partner in their business.
Tell them that ANY IP that comes out of your grey matter belongs to you, and no one else. They merely get a non exclusive, revocable license to use your IP only while you are under their employ.
This demonstrates to them that you know what you’re doing, and know your own worth.
They may not employ you straight away (it’s their call). But should they agree to your terms you would not be in your current predicament.
If they pass on you, I guarantee that after you leave they will kick themselves in their collective backsides. And you’ll walk out with your pride, sense of self worth, and with head held high.
This has served me well over the years.
Depends on the contract you have with them. Some companies are very notorious and want to own all IP that you produce during the time you work with them. You should always go through the contract and keep a copy of it. Sounds like you don’t have it. At one employer, I specifically asked them to add a clause to exclude my side project. They added it and no issues.
if he can’t afford to pay you he probably can’t afford the 100k plus to retain a litigator to sue you for code he doesn’t know how to use. lawyer up then take then to the cleaners and move on.
Don’t say another word, talk, text, message, call, email…not one thing to your ex employer! Talk to the attorney, take his advise…and let it play. You’re most likely not going to hear from him again, and if you do tell him to talk to your attorney!
In about 1-2 months fuck him where it hurts, if it helps you. And that is beat him at his own game in his wallet!
All the best
This sounds like an episode of Silicon Valley! (this one: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZ8MAk2oH4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZ8MAk2oH4) )
In the show (don’t take this post as serious or legal advice!), the main character used the ex-company’s laptop 1 time to fix his side-hustle code because his personal laptop was being repaired.
But you’re absolutely right, in the famous bestselling book Originals by Adam Grant (famous MBA professor at arguably #1 business school (or at least top 10 in the world), he goes through numerous stories of people who have successful side-hustles while they work, and the side hustle eventually becomes their startup and successful company.
As others posted, you’ll need to know the contract you signed + what is enforceable under local laws where you live. Some contracts are too strict, it becomes unenforceable and null & void by the court.
Good luck OP!
He’s just trying to bully you.