Losing IP used to bother me, but in hindsight turns out not to have mattered.
The fully integrated system you built failed in the market; its value is illusory (if you got to keep it and redeploy it, you'd probably lose in the long run).
The components of that system probably aren't lost to you at all. First, nobody cares about them anyways (VCs aren't going to chase you down for repurposing some scheduling library you built for your restaurant app). Second, while you operate the company you always have the ability to open-source them as you go. Third, once you know how to build a component, it's pretty easy to rebuild it.
You're probably right about the IP and databases not being completely trapped, in practice.
What about non-competes though? Could I really start a directly-competing company immediately afterwards? After all, not all startups fail just due to having completely worthless products, there could be many other reasons.
Wouldn't that depend on the IP? If you pop up later making significant money with your source or patents, I'd assume there would be a lawsuit in your future.
The fully integrated system you built failed in the market; its value is illusory (if you got to keep it and redeploy it, you'd probably lose in the long run).
The components of that system probably aren't lost to you at all. First, nobody cares about them anyways (VCs aren't going to chase you down for repurposing some scheduling library you built for your restaurant app). Second, while you operate the company you always have the ability to open-source them as you go. Third, once you know how to build a component, it's pretty easy to rebuild it.