🔒 What's Mine vs Theirs — IP Boundaries

Former-employer NDAs (GM + Hyundai) · for consulting work, interview returns, or partnership conversations
⚠️ Context note (2026-05-13): Sam is currently self-employed (since Oct 2024). He left GM via VSP in 2022 and Hyundai in Oct 2024. This page covers former-employer IP boundaries — relevant for consulting engagements, if interviewing back into W-2, or in partnership conversations where his prior work could come up.
The frustration is legitimate.

Companies use fake job postings to gather intel. Probing questions for proprietary info. "Most impressive technical achievement" can be a fishing expedition. Asking for specific implementations, vendor names, internal tools.

Meanwhile former employees are NDA-bound. Asymmetric.

✅ What you CAN share

❌ What you CAN'T share

🎯 Smart Interview Tactics

1Generalize the principle, not the implementation

Don't: "At GM [or Hyundai], we used [specific tool] to validate [specific thing]"
Do: "I've done battery calibration validation. The approach involves [public-knowledge stuff like SOC estimation accuracy, drift over cycles, etc.]"

2Pivot to capabilities, not details

Describe what you can DO, not the proprietary system. "I can build a calibration validation pipeline from scratch" is fair game. "Here's how GM's looks" is not.

3Use personal projects as proof

"Want to see how I think? I built a sports betting platform that backtests 13,000 games and showed an honest negative result instead of marketing-friendly numbers."

"Here's my public methodology page — explains EV, Kelly, CLV from first principles."

These are YOURS. Share freely. Demonstrates rigor + execution without touching GM IP.

4Name the asymmetry when probed

If pushed for specifics: "I'm still bound by NDA from prior roles, but I can walk you through my approach in detail. Where would you like me to focus?" Polite, professional, doesn't sound defensive. Works equally well in consulting sales calls and W-2 interviews.

🚀 The Pivot Opportunity

Sam asks: "Could I shift to pitching a different type of role but idk how to show"

Right now Sam can prove via public portfolio:

Roles this maps to (if Sam ever returns to W-2 or pitches consulting):

Solutions Architect / Technical Product Manager

Bridge between engineering and business. Sam's mixed background is the differentiator.

AI Engineering Lead

Sam's actual AI fluency demonstrated through this portfolio is rare among engineers.

Engineering Manager (small to mid team)

10+ yr at GM + own business + Hyundai exit-judgment shows operational maturity.

Founder / Startup Engineer

Same Solutions already exists; portfolio shows shipping discipline.

Strategy + Engineering Consultant

Day-rate consulting bypasses W-2 ladder entirely.

These pay better than typical IC engineering. Sam may be underpitching by staying in the "battery engineer" lane. The portfolio supports a higher-leverage positioning if he wants it.

💬 Talking Points for Tonight's Recalibration

  1. Does Sam want to return to W-2 at all, or is consulting + Same Solutions the better lane?
  2. What roles does Path E (consulting) actually pitch into — and what's the IP-safe pitch sound like?
  3. Is the LinkedIn / public portfolio positioning him for "self-employed operator + technical depth" or still for "former W-2 battery engineer"?

Cross-reference with: → Real Ceiling Exploration