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Report: Google Developing New 'Area 120' Corporate Incubator (thenextweb.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Information has released a new report about how Google is developing its own "startup incubator" called "Area 120." According to sources, the incubator will be helmed by Google executives Don Harrison and Bradley Horowitz. The way it will work is teams of Google employees will pitch their ideas for inclusion in Area 120. If a team's idea is approved, they will then be able to work full-time on their idea, and eventually start a new company after the business plan is created. The timing is unclear but the whole process will likely take several months. According to The Next Web, "The '120' in Area 120 is a homage to Google's famed '20 percent time,' which asks that employees spend one-fifth of their working hours on projects that excite them." Both Gmail and AdSense were a result of Google's 20 percent time workplace philosophy. The report claims Area 120 will be tied exclusively to Google, not its parent company, Alphabet. It also says it will remain separate from Google's Mountain View campus.
Large companies try this every so often. If you have a good business idea then you're allowed to work on it full time for your current salary, but you'll be expected to put in the hours of a CEO in order to make the business work. If the business is successful, you get to go back to your old job, maybe you get a token raise (that won't come close to compensating you for all the extra work you put in), the company owns the new business, and you receive no equity or stock. If the new business fails (as most new businesses do), then there's a very serious chance that you'll be laid off because the company did just fine while you were away working on your side project and, besides, who wants to employ someone whose business failed?
What usually happens is that most of the employees see this for the raw deal that it is, and don't participate. Maybe one or two gullible saps take part and work themselves into an early grave and/or get fired. A year and a half later, HR shuts down the program while simultaneously declaring it a massive success. Executives pat themselves on the back for being innovative, and accounting decides that Christmas bonuses won't be happening anymore because they need to recoup the costs of the side projects.