[somehnacct3757]

I worked at a small company where a vendor poached the team member that worked closely with the vendor.

The company was pretty bitter about it and switched vendors, and the CEO would often bad-mouth the vendor at speaking events with other small company teams.

Nobody was really nasty to the former colleague, although there was some light shade thrown their way as well.

You don't mention company size but if these are boutique shops or startups with sub 20 employees, and you aren't a role they regularly hire for, expect reputational damage to your new employer, you, or both in whatever sphere of influence your former employer has.

[throwaway0905]

yes this is certainly a concern - it's a 100 vs ~100K type situation , but the niche area is fairly small. based on observed behavior it's quite likely that I / new employer will be turned into a scapegoat, this worries me sometimes but then I also realize that I wouldn't be looking for something else if I was happy where I'm at