I am not a lawyer, but it's possible the non-compete is enforceable in California in this case. When an employee gets something "in kind" for the non-compete a

I am not a lawyer, but it's possible the non-compete is enforceable in California in this case. When an employee gets something "in kind" for the non-compete agreement, which arguably this is, then it may be upheld. For example, if a company pays you non-salary money in exchange for a non-compete agreement, then it may be upheld. Consider the case of former HP CEO Mark Hurd when he went to Oracle. What's not enforceable in CA are non-competes in, for example, normal employment contracts that apply to everyone. Edit: To be clear, Mark Hurd was allowed to work at Oracle, but he had to give the money back he got for signing the agreement.