Hacker News Reader

HNHacker News

Top New Best Ask Show Jobs

Comment by marcinzm | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

marcinzm·

Nevada lacks the three laws/regulations which make California, imho, popular for entrepreneurs:

* Limited non-competes

* Limited IP assignment clauses

* Limited anti-moonlighting clauses

It's hard to start a business when your current employer can block you from doing so.

View on HN

For a long time, it's been quite obvious that these 3 laws are a cornerstone of why California had the tech boom. And yet almost no other state has managed to put these on the books! I'd be willing to bet that if Nevada implements these (properly), they'll attract a lot more tech startups.

California's tech boom was created by semiconductor companies pourit toxic waste into the ground and rivers.

True for small tech companies, but major tech companies routinely flaunt CA loopholes to lay claim all sorts of employee-produced IP, and prevent moonlighting. If an invention is similar to something your company makes or might one day make (which could encompass anything for a major tech company), then they can lay claim to it and prevent you from moonlighting working on it.

I'd add that those are more significant to create a liquid labor market than to empower founders. The other missing component to a startup scene is reckless venture capital. Even if you found in another city you'll probably need to travel to California to get funding.

Where I come from, the business culture can be described as somewhere between complacent and cautious that borders on cowardice. There's really no other choice but to bootstrap or relocate to California.

You forgot the state income tax.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com