mmm... nope.

Our most productive employees are the ones without kids, families or bustling social lives. And those same employees are the ones who are working on "side" projects while they are also working for us.

Any company that would tell an employee that they can't work on a side project, either as a business or a hobby that is not in direct competition with that company is setting itself up for failure because it's a sign of a larger cultural issue within the company itself, stemming from severe mismanagement.