Eventually, whenever you become an employer. You would probably and most probably get the NDA signed. Esp., if you are a small business, because you are more at risk from your employees than competitors.
Although I am not in a sofware business, but what would it take a lead software developer to open up his own shop? Nothing a few bucks and the clients of his/her ex company.
In theory, nothing is stopping a lead developer from opening up their own shop.
In practice, unless you are comically shafting them or making it readily apparent you aren't going to help them achieve whatever exit they're looking for, the additional effort required to strike out by themselves is easily outweighed by the benefits of staying put.
Also, if your business is more at risk from employees than competitors, I think you need to seriously reconsider either your treatment of your employees, your business model, or your market analysis.
> Also, if your business is more at risk from employees than competitors, I think you need to seriously reconsider either your treatment of your employees, your business model, or your market analysis.
You are always at more risk from employees because they have multiple ways to hose you. Labor disputes, billing issues, intellectual property ownership agreements, etc.
This is why we have things like NDAs, Confidentiality Agreements, Patent Assignments, Stock Agreements, etc.
You don't have to be treating your employees badly for one to cause you issues. Even a disagreement about how much to sell the company for can cause problems, and that's not even a malicious reason to disagree.
> You are always at more risk from employees because they have multiple ways to hose you. Labor disputes, billing issues, intellectual property ownership agreements, etc.
That reasoning smells fallacious to me. Just because there are more kinds of risks, doesn't necessarily mean you're at more risk.
Funny, I was the lead dev at a company, and got out not very happy (not completely disgruntled either), it didn't occur to me one instant to even go back to the same sector. The customers were a pain to manage, the technical area was boring and google is crushing everybody.
Either the company has traction, and good luck to catch up, or it doesn't, and good luck to create a product that has traction.
Ideas are cheap. Implementations are what matter. If all of your competitors know your idea, but you implement a better product (or have better pricing, marketing, etc), you will win.
To my understanding, there's been problems in the past with people soliciting feedback for ideas here, and some overseas shops seizing the idea and throwing more resources at it quicker and either being quicker to market or with more features functioning. Ideas aren't always cheap, but public ones are not not cheap, they're free.
> To my understanding, there's been problems in the past with people soliciting feedback for ideas here, and some overseas shops seizing the idea and throwing more resources at it quicker and either being quicker to market or with more features functioning.
My standard quote about this is: "If 4 guys and a dog in the Ukraine can do this, what's the business?"
Although I am not in a sofware business, but what would it take a lead software developer to open up his own shop? Nothing a few bucks and the clients of his/her ex company.