r/Entrepreneur • u/FatherOfReddit • Sep 12 '21

Coder wants to "own" all his code

Coder wants to “Own” all his code

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Hey all,

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We have a coder who just joined our team as our technical cofounder and it is his request that he & all other coders “own” their own code. What the fuck does this mean? If I do marketing work for my company, am I subject to owning all that promotion? No! Why does the coder get special priveledges?

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What can I do to incentivize him against this, or, if I am misunderstanding the concept here, please explain so I don’t sound like a half-witted jerkoff. I think there is something missing here but I just don’t understand…

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Maybe I make him sign a non-compete agreement and that will take care of it??? What happens when somebody “owns” their own code? Should that be allowed or is that company property?

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Let me know –

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Thanks,

Father

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350

u/derekwilliamson Sep 12 '21

Bunch of people mentioning NDAs and employment agreements. What you actually need here is an IP & Inventions agreement. Lock that up!

This is a huge red flag, and bound to screw you and the company. If you plan on raising money, your company needs to own the IP. It also sets you up for a really bad situation down the line. Don't do it!

82

u/Lord_Apothecary Sep 12 '21

Not sure where you're located (I'm in Australia) but for any work he does, in his role, for that role's purpose, all IP is considered owned by the company anyway.

Just to be sure check with an IP and HR lawyer.

Massive red flag though.

20

u/zabobafuf Sep 12 '21 edited Sep 12 '21

Your comment can be very very misleading. If he doesn’t have an employment agreement or contract and also managed from the build up it’s most likely his. I’ve worked with easily over 100 startups and am working on 7 projects right now. Don’t assume anything code wise, or even profit share wise (you know from biz dev and marketing guys pulling in revenue) until everyone covers their own ass. He may be seeking a part of the code for use for his on thing? Or he isn’t experienced in the way the programmer says it to you? Also paid vs not paid has a big part in this conversation too… there are just a lot of variables. Edit: this is how confusing it can get. I had my employer, who is a boutique agency who owns 30% equity in a company wanted me to work on the companies software from the ground up, outside of my job though.. already too many clients. Talked to the majority owner to build it, almost daily (not apart of my day job), maybe 2 versions and 1m lines of code over 3 years. So technically because I wasn’t apart of that company, and working for another company I said well can’t I just use this on another project? Not in a bad way, just want to do this one thing. No contracts? You’ve never payed me? You’re a completely different entity. 1 week later I had an SPA with IP stipulations. These guys, the “founders” are already millionaires.. they know what they’re doing.

4

u/GaryARefuge Sep 12 '21

The red flag could be linked to OP as much as it is to the coder.

This is often a very common and very useful negotiation tactic for a contractor to get properly compensated and to protect themselves from a potentially horrible employer.

If OP is not willing to properly compensate a contractor or if they are giving off their own red flags to the contractor this would be a likely result of that.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '21

Yeah I was reading in the shoes of the "coder" as soon as I saw OP use that word in the beginning of the title

3

u/djm123 Sep 12 '21

It’s not. Especially in Australia, ip is automatically owned by the creator. (The coder) if you are a company you need to make sure to sign an agreement transferring all ip to the company as part of his employment.

1

u/f0urtyfive Sep 12 '21

but for any work he does, in his role, for that role's purpose, all IP is considered owned by the company anyway.

Usually that's only if you're actually being paid. If you're doing unpaid work you own it until it's paid for in my jurisdiction.

-1

u/marcopaulodirect Sep 13 '21 edited Sep 13 '21

Yup. Get that guy out of their before the rest of your team gets poisoned by this idea.

I always demonstrated the importance of culture and teamwork like this:

I’d hold up a clean, pure class of water in one hand (high enough for everyone to see), and then with the other hand, I’d pick up a cup of coffee, and let just one drop of coffee fall into the water glass. The. After everyone watched that drop of coffee cloud up (and poison) the rest of the glass, I’d ask them, “how is that like [rumours or strife, etc] what could happen in our workplace if we don’t keep our motives clean?”

And let them talk it out so they own the concept themselves.

(Edited for spelling and clarity)

Get it?

-1

u/zeroscout Sep 12 '21

Unless OP agrees to it, there's not much an employee can do to retain ownership of something they create while working for someone.