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For Hardware Founders — Promise Legal Insights

Insights for Hardware Founders

Deeptech, semiconductor, and the side-venture-from-your-day-job problem.

Hardware and deeptech founders carry a different IP problem than software founders: a substantial portion of you start your venture while still employed at a company whose invention-assignment clause may already own the work. Add export controls on semiconductor IP, the patent-vs-trade-secret tradeoff, and the unique cap-table dynamics of capital-intensive hardware, and the legal stack looks unlike anything a generic startup attorney handles.

This hub is for engineers and operators building hardware, semiconductor, robotics, and deeptech ventures — including those still working their day job at Arm, Samsung, NXP, or any other Texas-cluster employer with strong invention-assignment terms.

Content sprint: Active content sprint underway. New posts on moonlighting IP risk, semiconductor export controls, and hardware-specific fundraising patterns are in development.

Questions This Hub Answers

  • What does my employment agreement actually let me build on the side?
  • How do California Labor Code 2870 and equivalent state carve-outs work for moonlighting founders?
  • When should hardware IP be a patent vs. a trade secret?
  • How do U.S. export controls (EAR, ITAR) affect my semiconductor IP and team?
  • How do hardware cap tables handle capital intensity differently than software?
  • What's the diligence record I need for a hardware acquihire vs. a hardware Series A?

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