Toshiba’s loss of star engineer tells tale of company's decline
I am not suggesting that Toshiba (or other tech fossils) has the right culture when it comes to dealing with its engineering talent .. BUT .. If a company is de-risking the process of inventing&#x2F;commercializing a new solution for its engineers, then they are entitled to the IP.<p>&quot;A team led by Masuoka paved the way for the practical application of flash memory. The team was small when it was created in the 1980s, with an annual budget in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.&quot;<p>Asking for a bonus as an engineer for doing your job well is like begging for tips for waiting tables! If you don&#x27;t think you are being compensated well for your skillset and you can get a better deal elsewhere then quit!<p>If one thinks they have a great idea that would be incredibly profitable, they should quit their job and develop it on their own dime. I have a background in micro&#x2F;nanofabrication and highly doubt that Mr. Masuoka could have done what he did in his garage, without the state of the art fab technology available at Toshiba at the time.<p>A piece of advice to startup founders, always ALWAYS have a &quot;propriety rights agreement&quot; in place with whomever you work (contractors, employees, interns), detailing the ownership status of the IP created as a result of the collaboration. Without one, this could be a potential show-stopper later on when you are looking for outside investments and going through due diligence.