New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: Should I sell my software to my employer?

Ask HN: Should I sell my software to my employer?
2 by ultrarunner | 2 comments on Hacker News.
I work in a niche industry that has traditionally made imperfect use of equipment designed for other industries. I was hired as a part-time assistant and quickly identified numerous pain points in the process and began exploring the problem as a side project. Fast forward a few years and my software is currently running this sector of the business. I have significantly streamlined a historically unreliable process. While I developed it in my own free time, I am now salaried at a level that is high for the industry but low for an engineering position. The company is going through rapid expansion, morale is low, and burnout is a constant threat. The CEO has indicated that they would like to "control their destiny" and as such wants ownership rights to my software. They've offered $10k, which is not a life changing amount of money for me. I suspect that rejecting this offer may eventually lead to a termination of my employment. I like my job and the autonomy it affords me, but I do not have an interest in sacrificing my side project for the enrichment of my employer. Should I sign their agreement? Would this sale preclude me from offering a similar SaaS product at a later time? Is there a way to appraise software to improve this judgement call?

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