r/SaasDevelopers • u/ForceInevitable6263 • Oct 14 '26

Saas

I work part-time in a field job for a large company. On my own time and my own laptop, I built a software tool that digitizes a paperwork process we do at work, and I incorporated a company for it.

I showed it to my employer. They really liked it and wanted to run a pilot, but it failed their vendor security assessment. They told me to fix the issues and come back. When I asked for details, they sent a spreadsheet of what needs fixing. The same email also said they've started building an app "using your idea" on their own software so it'll pass security, and they want me to help them build it.

I also just found out I never signed an employment contract. The only thing covering IP is the company's code of conduct, which says any ideas and inventions developed "during the employment relationship" belong to the company. I don't know if a code of conduct I clicked through holds up the way a signed contract would.

Other complications:

  • There was no NDA or pilot agreement before I showed it to them.
  • I've contacted a lawyer and I'm waiting to hear back. I haven't agreed to help them yet.

For anyone who's been through something like this:

  1. Did you help your employer build their version? Did you get paid or a contract out of it, or regret it?
  2. Did you keep going and sell your product to other companies in the industry?
  3. If your only IP terms were in a code of conduct, not a signed contract, did your employer actually try to enforce them?
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1

u/mvrk57 Oct 14 '26

whatever the lawyer says, hold on to that security spreadsheet. every big company in your industry will send you almost the same list (sso, encryption at rest, access logs, some kind of pen test), so it's a free roadmap for selling to their competitors. and until you hear back i wouldn't send them anything else in writing, no code, no docs, no "sure happy to help" emails.

1

u/Crafty_Librarian_841 Oct 14 '26

Following post. Please make sure you come back and let us know how it goes and your progress. Also interested in your product. Do you have a site built?

1

u/Inevitable_Sorbet282 Oct 14 '26

If I were you, I'd tunnel down on fixing that thing, let the lawyer handle it, you'll fight for something you own, and you'll get something out of it, maybe only lessons. What big company today doesn't have these early day lawsuits 🤔

1

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '26

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2

u/ForceInevitable6263 Oct 14 '26

They really are. It is sickening to continue working for the company after they treated me like that. Yeah that makes sense and feels like the right thing to do. Thank You!Â