Looks like Google X is doing a second round of layoff. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/alphabet-s-secretive-x-division-lays-off-dozens-of-workers-in-cost-efficiency-push/ar-BB1h5zcA?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=487b0fb28a264e469a20b08ff2c52747&ei=10
World Conflicts
Yesterday
464
Why I Find Free Palestine Inspiring
Tech Industry
Yesterday
1656
Do people underestimate E6 role at meta?
World Conflicts
Yesterday
611
Israeli precision-guided munition likely killed group of children playing foosball in Gaza, weapons experts say
World Conflicts
Yesterday
528
Is "From the River to the Sea" So Wrong?
Personal Finance
Yesterday
1200
Thank you AAPL and NVDA
X seems to be in a tight spot. Idk what they’re doing for profit… last year their graduate Everyday Robots got wiped out during the layoffs. Seems like Astro is changing his approach a bit late.
Everyday Robots never graduated (meaning it was never registered as a separate company/subsidiary). They were in a no man’s land and then the layoffs happened.
Oh. I thought they did for some reason with they news they were getting
Any other news on layoffs in Other Bets?
None of this surprises me. I briefly worked at X in one of their bets and resigned within 6mo. The whole goal of each of their bets is to “graduate” into an independent business, where Alphabet will maintain a large stake in the newly formed business. From an ERM standpoint, it’s an excellent strategy to diversify their portfolio. There’s one key problem. There’s zero business acumen within X. Super smart tech talent, but there needs to be a business strategy or monetization plan for this to work, which there never was. Once I realized what was going on (major coasting) and a lack of business fundamentals and financial discipline, I thought to myself, “As soon as the market flips and there’s margin pressure for Alphabet, this will be the first thing to go”. Sure enough, here we are. And these layoffs will continue in X until it’s absorbed into Google or disbanded.
Isn’t there a GM or PM for each project whose main goal is to come up with a plan for GTM and financial success?
Yes, there is both a GM and a PM. Issue is that the GM does not have any business acumen either. Each project’s GM is essentially a scientist, PhDs, mostly from academia, without any actual business experience. The “business reviews” were almost laughable. Bullet points on a slide with tremendous hyperbole to keep their projects funded, “we delivered tremendous value”. That’s it. Zero numbers. You’re probably wondering, well how does a GM get away with that? Because the top echelon at X is the exact same way.
Google X is a bunch of arrogant PhDs, mostly from academia, without any actual business experience looking for project funding.
How many?
Few dozens according to the article