Scott Kirsner’s column in todays Boston Globe talks about the non-compete clause and Matt Marx the Harvard doctoral candidate that I interviewed here.
I wish Scott was able to talk to big company execs from EMC, and the like, and talk about why their employees in California have different rights than their MA employees.
EMC actually just acquired this week another California company. So obviously they are benefiting from all the innovation that happens in California w/o restrictions of a non-compete clause.
Before the holiday break, I was chatting with Paul Maeder who is a managing general partner at Highland Capital. Paul is against the non-compete clause and believes they stifle innovation. He has joined our growing list of supporters over at the Alliance for Open Competition. Paul and I have talked about this topic and one thing that he said to me recently has stuck in my head. He said that non-compete clauses in MA are like telling college graduates not to get a job in their speciality or graduating degree. He said if you studied lasers or worked in lasers your whole life should you not be able to find a job that specialized in lasers?
Good point Paul. That’s exactly right.