I don’t know, the conflict of interest especially in saas is tricky. Let’s assume that I build some niche etl tool, my employer deals with data etl for a certain market, how can i safely determine that my side project doesn’t interfere with their business? Not even lawyers can determine this. And what about the working hours overlap? Who knows except my commits to my repo and myself? I don’t know, side projects seem like a bad advice as they probably increase current job insecurity imo..

You claim it as IP that is previously developed when you start the new job or you submit it to your current employer and get an IP exclusion.

I’ve done both with no issues.

I specifically called out "outside business hours"... there should be no overlap. I also don't tend to work on anything near what I work on at my day job. Same for side work to main job.

Again, it depends on the work environment. I haven't had trouble getting permission when I've wanted/needed it. It's generally if your job performance is suffering, or if you are working in an adjacent or competing market.

You've specifically mentioned two things I believe I excluded in my statement.