Moonlighting

Holding a second job or side gig alongside full-time employment, often without the primary employer's knowledge. A charged topic in the Indian tech industry in particular.

Why it matters

Moonlighting raises questions of focus, conflict of interest, and IP ownership that founders must handle through clear policies rather than assumptions. It became a heated debate in India, making explicit employment terms all the more important.

For example

A startup writes a clear policy on moonlighting after an engineer is found freelancing for a competitor, addressing focus and IP ownership head-on.

Worth your time

Moonlighting: Legal Considerations and Contractual Regulation India Corporate Law (Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas) · article Written by one of India's top corporate law firms, this is the authoritative read on what your co-founder's current employer can actually enforce while they are still on the payroll. It confirms that a non-compete or exclusivity clause operative during employment is valid in India (unlike a post-exit non-compete, which Section 27 of the Contract Act voids), which is exactly why you check their contract before they touch your codebase, not after they quit. Open corporate.cyrilamarchandblogs.com →

Related terms

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See how founders actually handle this on Co-founders, team and legal, part of the Starting Up hub.

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