The main reason selective non-compete clauses are important, is preventing industrial espionage on intangible assets... and customer lead-data exfiltration. In

The main reason selective non-compete clauses are important, is preventing industrial espionage on intangible assets... and customer lead-data exfiltration. In business, idealism will not be rewarded in the long-term. People intuitively understand this fact, if they were ever stung by a bad partnership deal or outright scam. The core issue was the scope of these terms became far too broad in 50 years. The sun always shines even when our faces are turned, =)