The Big AlphaBet

Om Malik:

The new company is called Alphabet. We should think of its as the Berkshire Hathaway for the Burning Man crowd — where instead of good, old fashioned value investments, the management is betting big on the future possibilities. And every single one of those efforts if done right could be Google sized companies in their own right. […]

Just like Berkshire Hathaway, Alphabet can contemplate betting for the long term, either by controlling the companies or having substantial stakes, that allow them to also skirt the regulatory limitations. In his blog post, Page said Alphabet is about “businesses prospering through strong leaders and independence. In general, our model is to have a strong CEO who runs each business, with Sergey and me in service to them as needed.”

Berkshire Hathaway is a good comparison. But Berkshire Hathaway has only 24 employees. I think staying that lean and mean at the top is central to Berkshire Hathaway’s success. Is Alphabet going to be that lean?

★ Tuesday, 11 August 2015