"One explicit purpose of Area 120 was to prevent the loss of these entrepreneurs to outside startups"
So basically google had a shed where they hoarded talented people, to prevent competition? :)
So basically google had a shed where they hoarded talented people, to prevent competition? :)
That's a succinct description of why Microsoft Research was created.
2) in general, early Google used to hoard talent all the time. The founders would keep great people (or their friends) on payroll for ~ever just to have them stick around. That was most prevalent in the first decade of Google’s life, to my knowledge, and mostly applied to very senior people.
By the time Area 120 was pitched and approved (circa 2014), those days were largely gone. Area 120 was primarily filled with junior people (L4-L6) and constantly had to sing for its supper - it was not at all a sinecure.