STIS, Ethics Edition: Do I tell the company I do work for now that I'm starting a company that overlaps in service offerings?
Posted by
colin (aka colinski)
Oct 28 '21, 07:56
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I've worked for this company for 4 years as a contractor and consultant. Currently, I'm developing an aspect of their service offering that's much more highly developed and far reaching than what I plan to offer (inventory management).
My company will provide the logistics of coordinating work in the industry, but will still hire companies like the one I'm doing work with. I cannot succeed without them as the vendors to my customers. I'm just removing their poorly run services org and making it my own, plus adding on some consulting services, etc.
I have a long term relationship with the head of that wing of the department. He's been very generous with providing work when I have been getting going, been a friend, but he's also under a ton of pressure due to ownership changes, etc. I really doubt they're organized enough to stop me from doing what I'm doing.
Legally, I have an expired NDA with them... expired last year. Again, more signs of being very disorganized.
Here's the question: Do I continue developing a product for them knowing it'll compete with my company? Do I tell them I'm starting a company or go stealth until they find out? Part of my issue is that my name carries a lot of weight in the industry. I can get interviews, press out there, and audiences with some good potential customers. If I go stealth, it'll just be a quiet entry into the market place.
What would you do?
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