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Comment by fragmede | Hacker News Reader

Don't forget non-compete agreements - valid in NY, invalid in CA. So not only can you NOT leave your day job for a startup, you typically have to wait 2 (or more) years before being able to freely work on any projects. (If your start up is in a completely different area than your day-job, you may be able to get away with it sooner. But don't think that corporations are lax about enforcing the non-compete you signed.)

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"So not only can you NOT leave your day job for a startup, you typically have to wait 2 (or more) years before being able to freely work on any projects."

If this is true then how does moving job generally work in NYC? Presumably people there aren't expected to work for one employer all their life or take years off in between jobs?

Perhaps they move out of NYC to a state that doesn't enforce non-competes for years, and then possibly move back.

These clauses are only enforced when it's an easy win for the litigator - for example, key employees going to a direct rival or a startup with no legal budget.

That makes sense.

I call bollocks. I don't doubt that companies make these silly agreements, I don't doubt that companies actually try to enforce them, and I don't doubt that employees cave in thinking they have no options.

What I doubt is that if a company tried to enforce one of these ridiculous agreements that it would hold up in court. Are you trying to tell me that if I work in networking for a new york company I can't get another job for 2 years? That's just not possible.

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