Independence & Non-Competition Statement

1.) Personal Side Project

GowenPlaces is a privately funded, after-hours innovation lab wholly owned by Geoff Owen. It operates outside the scope of—and without financial support from—my current full-time employer.

2.) No Overlap in Core Business

The experiments hosted here focus on fintech, elder-tech, and AI-driven marketplaces. These domains do not compete with the primary products, services, or target markets of my employer. If a future experiment should ever resemble or intersect my employer’s offerings, I will (a) disclose the overlap to my manager in writing and (b) modify or cease the experiment unless written permission is granted.

3.) Strict Separation of Resources

    - Time: All GowenPlaces activities occur outside my contracted working hours.

    - Tools & Data: I use personal hardware, cloud accounts, and self-funded software licences only. No employer-owned code, confidential data, or trade secrets are utilized.

    - Branding: GowenPlaces does not reference, leverage, or imply endorsement by my employer.

4.) Non-Solicitation of Employer Stakeholders

GowenPlaces does not market to, recruit from, or knowingly solicit business from my employer’s existing clients, prospects, or suppliers.

5.) Open-Door Disclosure

I maintain an open channel for my employer’s legal or compliance team to review any experiment that might raise questions. Contact: compliance-review@gowenplaces.com.

6.) First Right of Discussion

Should an experiment mature into a commercial product that could benefit my employer, I commit to offering an exploratory discussion—before seeking third-party investment—to evaluate partnership or licensing opportunities.