[fowlerpower]

This story is fascinating for tech people everywhere and we should all pay attention.

We all have big dreams of starting our own company some day (I know do) and many of us work for big corporations that would rather we never go anywhere and work for as little as possible. (admittedly the markets are forcing them to pay us a lot but they aren't doing it out of good will).

The outcome of this will teach us all very valuable lessons. I can't be the only one who is a little paranoid that if I start my own shit I'll be sued or that I may even be sued for some of the side projects I'm working on even though I've never taken any code or resources from my company.

[throwaway729]

> The outcome of this will teach us all very valuable lessons.

Lesson #1: Don't steal.

> I can't be the only one who is a little paranoid that if I start my own shit I'll be sued or that I may even be sued for some of the side projects I'm working on even though I've never taken any code or resources from my company.

Lesson #2: If someone accuses you of theft, deny it instead of pleading the fifth.

Assuming their accusations aren't truthful, of course.

[evilsnoopi3]

> Lesson #2: If someone accuses you of theft, deny it instead of pleading the fifth.

Actually, you shouldn't say anything and get a lawyer. Then listen to them. Pleading the fifth is expressly not an admission of guilt however it is portrayed in the media - often times it is necessary even for innocent parties to invoke. I am not a lawyer and this shouldn't be construed as legal advice.

[dllthomas]

Your Lesson #2 is wrong. If someone accuses you of theft listen to your lawyer, whether you are innocent or guilty.

[MichaelBurge]

> Lesson #2: If someone accuses you of theft, deny it instead of pleading the fifth

What is the clear benefit to denying rather than pleading the fifth? I know from Psychology that telling a jury to disregard information makes it seem more valuable and true, but that's more speculative than what you seem to have seen.

[openmosix]

If you work for a company, and you want to start a parallel project/business, some key points are:

a. Do not start a side project/business in the VERY same industry or about the VERY same product of your current employer (like in this case, Waymo/Otto/Uber). b. Do not use IPs, code, equipments, facilities, etc of your current employer (like in this case) c. Do not solicit most of your co-workers to quit and join you d. Do not download documents from your employer, save them on personal storage and then resign abruptly from the company

I have started several other businesses while working at large companies - if you don't get anywhere close to a/b/c/d you should be very fine.

[kelnos]

Related to (a), if you do want to start your side business in the same industry as your employer, you must clear it with them -- in writing -- first. Yes, there are many many situations where they will laugh and say "no", but you never know.

For example, I work at Twilio. Let's say I hypothetically have some ideas of things to build on top of Twilio that I could turn into a side business. Maybe these things are features that Twilio might want to build into the platform, or maybe not. If I wanted to start a side biz doing these things, it'd be in my best interests to clear it with Twilio first. They might say "that's out of the scope of anything we'd ever build into our product, so go ahead". Or not.

You don't want to find out several years later, when you're becoming successful, that your old employer has decided to stake a claim on what you're doing.

[Twirrim]

> We all have big dreams of starting our own company some day

Speak for yourself. I've got absolutely no dreams whatsoever in starting my own company. I go to work, do good work and put in my hours. I get paid nicely above average salary so that I have no particular concerns from a financial perspective. Why would I want the stress and hassle of running my own company?

[empath75]

This isn't really a gray area. He stole a bunch of documents on the way out, founded a new company based on IP he didn't own, and then sold it to another company. (assuming google's allegations are true)

[AnimalMuppet]

I believe that fowlerpower's point is that you should not assume that Google's allegations are true - at least not until they are proven.