Google has a new plan to discourage top talent from abandoning ship to start their own companies; just have them develop their company in-house.
The company is reportedly starting their own incubator that will allow employees to use Google support and funding to develop their ideas and possibly branch out with Google staying on as an investor.
For those that don’t watch “Silicon Valley” (shame on you) or have never heard of an incubator before, these are areas which offer a space for smaller new businesses to grow their brand. It’s how most startups gain traction these days.
Named “Area 120”, long-time executives Don Harrison and Bradley Horowitz will reportedly manage the incubator. Employees would be able to work within the incubator full time to develop their ideas after they work up a solid business plan. At this moment the finer details are unclear, but it is assumed that after a determined amount of time the companies would be able to set out on their own.
Time will tell if these companies will be allowed to stand on their own or if they will stay under the Google umbrella. It seems very unlikely that break out products wouldn’t want to be leveraged by the company, so time will tell whether this will help to foster innovation from employees.
microsight 