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> After leaving his job in global business development at Amazon, Aaron Kerson used his knowledge of the platform’s sales algorithms to power up his new busines

by jrd259 5y ago

> After leaving his job in global business development at Amazon, Aaron Kerson used his knowledge of the platform’s sales algorithms to power up his new business. Don't corporations typically have non-compete clauses to prevent an employee from exploiting proprietary knowledge they gained while working for the firm? Would we be supportive of someone who left (e.g.) a small bicycle parts company to help Amazon rule that market?

fossuser 5y ago
In California non-competes are [edit: unenforceable] (it's arguably one of the reasons for Silicon Valley's success). It varies by state though, so not sure about Washington and elsewhere.
- matmatmatmat 5y ago
  Nit: They are unenforcable, but not illegal in themselves: https://www.callahan-law.com/are-non-competes-enforceable-in-california/ https://www.callahan-law.com/are-non-competes-enforceable-in...
  - fossuser 5y ago
    Yep - you're right, edited and fixed.
InitialLastName 5y ago
When he started the company in 2015, presumably he wasn't competing with Amazon (by selling products on their platform that they don't have their own brand of). By now, I'd assume any non-compete that might cover "don't sell products that compete with us" have expired.
tkahnoski 5y ago
Yes... (not a lawyer so grain of salt here) There are three basic tools for IP protection: 1) Copyright - protects outright copying of an IP asset 2) Patent - protects against the reimplementation of the same IP 3) Trade Secret - Similar to patent, but enforcement is trickier especially for software as you have to demonstrate a benefit to it being secret as well as your efforts to keep it secret. Non-competes are more of a blunt instrument and a controversial topic. Amazon is infamous for having them. Typically only hear of companies trying to enforce these at executive level as any enforcement at a lower level can impact recruiting heavily.
- OliverJones 5y ago
  In the bike-parts and other speciality manufacturing businesses, there's a fourth barrier to entry for new competitors: reputation for quality. Quality matters a whole lot for the kind of products PNW makes. Not every cyclist has the ability to figure out whether a part was manufactured correctly (no cracks or voids in castings, etc etc). Maybe they outsource them. But finding contract manufacturers who do a good job is a highly skilled business. And cyclists depend on stuff like this to work. I once had the top of a cheapo seatpost break off on a road bike, in the late fall, far from home. Cheezy metal manufacturing. Cold couple of hours waiting for a rescue. Happily I didn't crash. I learned my lesson. Now I buy stuff from my local bike shop, or sometimes REI if I'm far from home. The possibility of counterfeit parts is frightening. I know I can trust the local bike shop to source decent parts.

by jrd259 5y ago

fossuser 5y ago

In California non-competes are [edit: unenforceable] (it's arguably one of the reasons for Silicon Valley's success). It varies by state though, so not sure about Washington and elsewhere.

matmatmatmat 5y ago
Nit: They are unenforcable, but not illegal in themselves: https://www.callahan-law.com/are-non-competes-enforceable-in-california/ https://www.callahan-law.com/are-non-competes-enforceable-in...
- fossuser 5y ago
  Yep - you're right, edited and fixed.

InitialLastName 5y ago

When he started the company in 2015, presumably he wasn't competing with Amazon (by selling products on their platform that they don't have their own brand of). By now, I'd assume any non-compete that might cover "don't sell products that compete with us" have expired.

tkahnoski 5y ago

Yes... (not a lawyer so grain of salt here) There are three basic tools for IP protection: 1) Copyright - protects outright copying of an IP asset 2) Patent - protects against the reimplementation of the same IP 3) Trade Secret - Similar to patent, but enforcement is trickier especially for software as you have to demonstrate a benefit to it being secret as well as your efforts to keep it secret. Non-competes are more of a blunt instrument and a controversial topic. Amazon is infamous for having them. Typically only hear of companies trying to enforce these at executive level as any enforcement at a lower level can impact recruiting heavily.

OliverJones 5y ago
In the bike-parts and other speciality manufacturing businesses, there's a fourth barrier to entry for new competitors: reputation for quality. Quality matters a whole lot for the kind of products PNW makes. Not every cyclist has the ability to figure out whether a part was manufactured correctly (no cracks or voids in castings, etc etc). Maybe they outsource them. But finding contract manufacturers who do a good job is a highly skilled business. And cyclists depend on stuff like this to work. I once had the top of a cheapo seatpost break off on a road bike, in the late fall, far from home. Cheezy metal manufacturing. Cold couple of hours waiting for a rescue. Happily I didn't crash. I learned my lesson. Now I buy stuff from my local bike shop, or sometimes REI if I'm far from home. The possibility of counterfeit parts is frightening. I know I can trust the local bike shop to source decent parts.