How Apples poaching killed off an electric motorcycle company.

It's an open secret that Apple has been aggressively poaching employees from a variety of industries as it ramps up to make a car, which feels more of an inevitability by the day. For a huge corporation, poaching isn't necessarily a death sentence — but for a startup, brain drain can spell the end. Take Mission Motors, for instance, a boutique manufacturer of electric motorcycles that was left "in the dust" by recruiting from Apple, Reuters reports, citing sources.



Mission, which laid out plans for bankruptcy last month, was focused on electric superbikes — not unlike the ones that run in the Isle of Man TT's electric race — and started seeing staff leave for Apple in 2012, Reuters says, while "about a half dozen" engineers left for Cupertino in the last year alone. Those poaches came at a time when Mission was trying to raise additional money to stay afloat, and seeing key engineering talent depart probably didn't help its cause. Of course, it's convenient for a failing startup to blame its fate on one of the largest companies on the planet, but it certainly couldn't have helped.

On an unrelated note: right now is probably a great time to start a career in electric motor engineering.