[davidp]

> he was a cool guy and I don't think he'd enforce the clause

The problem with that kind of trust is that sometimes the person who makes the decision isn't the cool guy. It can be the company's lawyers who decide to make your life hard after termination for whatever reason (reduces your negotiating leverage at least), or someone else entirely if the company is acquired (for example).

[cableshaft]

It was a small business and he was very much the one who made decisions, in this particular circumstance. There were other employees who moonlighted a bit while working there and I don't think he ever pursued them.

But as I said, despite my comment about him being pretty cool about things, it was enough to make me uncomfortable, and I didn't work on my stuff much, and definitely didn't release anything while working there.