[maxsilver]

>. Google comes in and offers to buy you out. You decline cause you know that they are blockbuster and your Netflix. In retaliation google hires all your staff, and sends them to the roof to rest and vest.

If you know for certain that "they are BlockBuster, you are Netflix", then why are you not cutting them a deal to make it worth them staying?

This is absolutely about workers -- specifically, companies not wanting to pay workers anything close to what they are worth.

[janalsncm]

> why are you not cutting them a deal to make it worth them staying?

It’s a fair question. Workers absolutely deserve a fair cut of the pie in that scenario. Non-competes have been pretty ridiculous lately, and companies had to provide little to no justification.

But the incentives of workers might not be entirely aligned with the “Netflix” or even their coworkers. Blockbuster wouldn’t hire the whole team unless they had to: one or two people who understood the core algorithm is enough, and for 10x their old salary it would be hard to resist. That leaves the startup and everyone else who works there out in the cold.

The second thing is that people aren’t rational expected value maximizers. You can’t pay rent with equity, and a startup may not have the cash to compete on salary.

Finally, it’s possible that allowing the larger incumbent to hire all of a competitor’s employees is actually not in their best interest. After strangling/eliminating the competition, an incumbent has no further need for those employees it poached.

[zer00eyz]

> Finally, it’s possible that allowing the larger incumbent to hire all of a competitor’s employees is actually not in their best interest. After strangling/eliminating the competition, an incumbent has no further need for those employees it poached.

And even if the do, it isnt at the inflated pay rate.

The big incumbent crushed the little guy.

[zer00eyz]

From a benefit perspective:

When apple uses its dominant position to tax everyone 30 percent apple benefits, and the market does not.

When apple uses its dominant position to pay your team 30 percent more and stifle the free market by driving competitors out of business. you benefit, Apple benefits more and the market does not.

Is apple being a giant market dominating force a good thing or a bad thing? Your getting the high salary does not reflect your value, or the market value of your skill. It reflects apples desire to put your former employer out of business.

[janalsncm]

And importantly, once your old employer is gone, there’s no need to pay you inflated salaries anymore.

[nradov]

There is not a fixed quantity of employers. New employers are founded every day. YC even funds some of them.