Podcasts Technology Soft Skills Engineering Episode 239: Hustle and patents and toxicity

Episode 239: Hustle and patents and toxicity

Published: Dec. 7, 2020, 7 p.m.

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

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  1. \n

    Really love the podcast. Keep it up!\nI\u2019m in a senior role at a software company and have been here over 5 years. I have come up with a SaaS product idea after finding a problem in my company\u2019s engineering process and started working on it. It solves a niche problem in general software development so it isn\u2019t related to my company product. I would like to use this product at my current company both to help me manage the technical issues at my current company and to help validate and grow the idea.

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    Should I have any concerns with what I\u2019m doing? Can my company claim my idea as it\u2019s own? What should I be doing now to protect myself? Any other things I should consider? Does it make sense to validate a new side hustle idea at a company while working full time at said company?

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    2. \n
  2. \n

    Please help soft skills wizards:

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    Junior eng at a huge conglomerate, quit mid-patent process (OK I HAD A PRODUCTIVE TUESDAY A MONTH AGO and I\u2019m pretty good with mermaid.js).

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    If they come back with a job offer post-departure, since I am the sole inventor on this patent, how do I properly handle this one?

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    My manager was\u2026. extremely toxic and every attempt that was made to move was botched either by CoViD-19 or my chain of command. I don\u2019t think I could feasibly have a positive interaction with my former manager and working under him has had a significant impact on my mental health.

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    But\u2026. I loved my work. I loved some of the people I worked with. Sometimes it being a huge conglomerate had its upsides as well: I was able to bend the rules as long as the bureaucracy had prevented someone from implementing the visibility that would have demonstrated the rules were bent.

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    If they give me an offer to return as a junior architect I would be very tempted to do so, but would be afraid of being anywhere near my former manager, director or VP.

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    3. \n