>Isn't that similar to what Google/Apple/etc were doing recently, and were rightfully lambasted for?
Two differences:
* It would be a one-sided no-poaching agreement (or it should be).
* An individual start-up does not have close to the same level of market power as a large corporation so the effects of no poaching agreements on the market as a whole would be minimized.
It isn't the same for the same reason why low cap startups with a lot of competition are immune from anti-trust violations no matter what their behavior.
Two differences:
* It would be a one-sided no-poaching agreement (or it should be).
* An individual start-up does not have close to the same level of market power as a large corporation so the effects of no poaching agreements on the market as a whole would be minimized.
It isn't the same for the same reason why low cap startups with a lot of competition are immune from anti-trust violations no matter what their behavior.