I've heard this about exits through acquisition before, in particular from people who got left behind. They're often super motivated (because feeling a tad wronged) to work harder, build a better end product while carefully navigating (circumventing) the IP protections and I know a couple of people that got nice results for them personally too.

However, I know of at least 2 people that got into costly legal processes due to IP/NCA agreements, so I guess in the end time will have to tell what you can ultimately get away with.