There was no IP to poach. The IP was in a publicly available patent. Every company that proactively reaches out to an employed individual is doing so because

There was no IP to poach. The IP was in a publicly available patent. Every company that proactively reaches out to an employed individual is doing so because that employee has demonstrated elsewhere and probably at their current job skills and experience that they find valuable and I assume is willing to make a better offer for them. Other posters said that Masimo was paying developers $140K - $180k. That’s a nothingburger for good developers. The BigTech company I was working for two years ago was offering returning interns about that much in cash + liquid RSUs I once worked for a startup where everyone loved the CTO, the startup got acquired after I left by a PE company. When he left to be the CTO of another company in the same vertical, 10 of the employees followed him within the next six months basically taking all of the developers and sales that he wanted and all of the worthwhile staff from the startup. I assume it was for more money. If I had still been at the startup when he left, he would have easily “poached” me too? Should that also have been illegal? Was that unethical?