

Ask HN: Are non-compete agreements a good thing?  - ressaid1

As a founder and CEO outside of California, I have to constantly deal with non-competes. I am going on  Fox Business News today arguing that non-competes stifle startups and a founder&#x27;s ability to innovate in their field and then hire new employees to grow from their own network.<p>I&#x27;d love thoughts on the issue that I may not have considered before I go on air.
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declandewet
I am heavily of the opinion that they are a blight on society. My father
started a market research company years ago, and business was booming. Then
there was a divorce and a crazy new ex girlfriend and an unmaintainable house
and he had to have his company absorbed by an international conglomerate, who
has since absorbed all of his salary and the crooks have stored it all
offshore. They do no work. They work him to the bone. They misguide him. I'm
sure there's evidence of tax evasion too. He cannot leave because of a non-
compete agreement. Market Research is all he knows other than Military
Strategy. If he left, he'd be 60, unemployed, and have less than $50,000 to
his name.

