What surprised me most about a recent job offer I got from one of the big SV companies, was just how restrictive and limiting they were. Sure, they didn't have

What surprised me most about a recent job offer I got from one of the big SV companies, was just how restrictive and limiting they were. Sure, they didn't have a traditional non-compete as such, but they had layers of code of conducts and the like which basically made it a firing offense to do anything that wasn't effectively invisible. I turned them down for a number of reasons. But the general "your our slave, and you will suffer and regret doing anything outside of work" sure didn't help much. The idea that I might have to take down my github account, or fill out piles of paperwork to continue helping a non-profit I am involved in was just too much (combined with the fact that basically nothing was negotiable other than RSU's).