Not even sure where to start on this comment, but I&#x27;ll try:<p>&gt; In a startup, the whole endeavor rides on secrets. ... In a large company, execution dominates.<p>Have you ever worked for a startup? Most likely at least 10 other companies have had the same idea. And 100 people outside those companies. Your ability to (out) execute is all that matters -- regardless of the size company. See also: talk is cheap. And yes, there are trade secrets that can be hugely important, but these are handled by NDAs and other Confidential Information agreements, not non-competes. If those are stolen, you sue under those agreements, not your non-compete.<p>&gt; If that person went to work for another marketing analytics company, I wouldn&#x27;t be too happy, because to some extent, our specific mix of APIs to integrate with and what we got from them is proprietary. ... If an engineer I&#x27;d worked with and developed that knowledge with went to somebody trying to solve the same problem as me, I&#x27;d be kind of pissed.<p>Then you should give them a reason (ideally, several) to stay. Your employment agreement trades some form of compensation -- typically cash and equity -- for their output. You&#x27;re getting value, they&#x27;re getting value. If you don&#x27;t treat them properly, you don&#x27;t deserve to keep them, regardless if you &quot;wouldn&#x27;t be too happy&quot; about it.