The non-compete is legal in many, but not all states (depending on its scope). It is legal in California, but cannot extend more than a couple of years beyond

The non-compete is legal in many, but not all states (depending on its scope). It is legal in California, but cannot extend more than a couple of years beyond employment. The bigger concern is the intellectual property clause of your contract; if your startup would be competing directly with your current company's products (in the market or in development), they would have a very strong claim to it. Also, the poaching clause is legal in most states. It doesn't mean you can't recruit existing employees, it simply means you can't do so in a way that interferes with the target employee's contract with his current employer (i.e., by badmouthing the employer/its practices, etc).