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That entire thread is filled with snark/speculation and lacks any actual facts. Is it that inconceivable that Google believes that one or more of these moonsho

That entire thread is filled with snark/speculation and lacks any actual facts. Is it that inconceivable that Google believes that one or more of these moonshots might actually take off?

hueving 10y ago
Well I'm sure the people working on it think one might take off. But if you're taking the pessimistic view it doesn't matter if they never succeed as long as the smart people are kept busy working for them.
- Jach 10y ago
  It's a clever argument that might convince certain purse-holders, who are optimistic or pessimistic about the success, that it's in the company's best interest either way. I don't think Google's under full control of the sociopaths yet that this sort of "locked up" argument is needed, or is felt internally by very many upper level managers. It's also just not a great strategy if you're worried about potential future competitors given that employees are free citizens, not slaves, and California has no non-compete laws. Industry (let alone tech industry, let alone Californian tech industry) is littered with successful offshoots started by individuals and teams who used to work together at one company, and quit or were fired en masse to start working on something else in the same domain, taking their experience with them and owing their former company nothing. Facebook's strategy of "buy any threat" is a lot more sound, even if it too is vulnerable when the threat refuses to be bought.
notatoad 10y ago
The "other bets" category accounts for $185mm in total revenue. By most normal reckoning, that has taken off. It looks small by google standards and compared the the spending on other bets, but that's a lot of money. IIRC, most of the revenue and cost in "other bets" comes from Google Fibre. It's a signficant up-front investment for a fairly reliable long term revenue stream. treating the whole other bets category as R&D is not really correct. this isn't just google X.

That entire thread is filled with snark/speculation and lacks any actual facts. Is it that inconceivable that Google believes that one or more of these moonshots might actually take off?

hueving 10y ago

Well I'm sure the people working on it think one might take off. But if you're taking the pessimistic view it doesn't matter if they never succeed as long as the smart people are kept busy working for them.

Jach 10y ago
It's a clever argument that might convince certain purse-holders, who are optimistic or pessimistic about the success, that it's in the company's best interest either way. I don't think Google's under full control of the sociopaths yet that this sort of "locked up" argument is needed, or is felt internally by very many upper level managers. It's also just not a great strategy if you're worried about potential future competitors given that employees are free citizens, not slaves, and California has no non-compete laws. Industry (let alone tech industry, let alone Californian tech industry) is littered with successful offshoots started by individuals and teams who used to work together at one company, and quit or were fired en masse to start working on something else in the same domain, taking their experience with them and owing their former company nothing. Facebook's strategy of "buy any threat" is a lot more sound, even if it too is vulnerable when the threat refuses to be bought.

notatoad 10y ago

The "other bets" category accounts for $185mm in total revenue. By most normal reckoning, that has taken off. It looks small by google standards and compared the the spending on other bets, but that's a lot of money. IIRC, most of the revenue and cost in "other bets" comes from Google Fibre. It's a signficant up-front investment for a fairly reliable long term revenue stream. treating the whole other bets category as R&D is not really correct. this isn't just google X.