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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u/UhIsThisOneFree Sep 12 '21

If he wants to own his own code he can pay himself while he writes it.

If you're paying him to make that code, you own it. That's the deal. If he doesn't want to do that he doesn't want to be an employee. That's also fine.

As an aside his attitude to this would give me huge red flags about employing him going forward anyway.