Am I crazy for considering reverse engineering my own company's product to go into business with a customer?

This is a real situation formatted with AI

Background: I work in sales for a company that offers a service-based product requiring some infrastructure and specialized equipment. A customer of mine recently approached me about bringing our service to another country where they already have existing infrastructure and a compatible customer base. They don't need the full setup — just the equipment/technology, ideally through a licensing deal.

When I first brought it up with my regional manager, I did not have all of the information and framed it loosely (not as a licensing partnership specifically), and they shut it down: the company isn't looking to operate internationally. My manager may have answered a different question than what's actually on the table.

The complication: My company is very regimented — reps are expected to work through their manager and not go above them or directly to senior leadership or product teams. That's just the culture here.

My options as I see them:

1. Do nothing — tell the customer my manager said no and move on
2. Reapproach my manager — this time framing it explicitly as a licensing deal and see if they point me in the right direction
3. Go around my manager — escalate directly to senior leadership or the product team, or just connect the customer with someone higher up
4. Reverse engineer the technology myself — partner with the customer directly as a business venture (I'd research legal exposure first; I don't believe there are active patents, and this would be in a different jurisdiction)

What I'm wrestling with:

Option 4 is honestly the most exciting to me. But I'm clear-eyed that pulling it off likely means losing my job and burning every bridge at my current company. Option 2 feels like the "right" move but may just hit the same wall. Option 3 violates the company's norms and could blow back on me professionally if it goes poorly, but does have upside if it goes well. Option 1 feels like leaving money and opportunity on the table.

What would you do? Am I crazy for even entertaining option 4?