Alphabet is Google’s parent company. A few years ago, the two cofounders of Google took a chapter from Warren Buffet’s playbook, and created Alphabet. Their idea is to turn Google into the high tech equivalent of Berkshire Hathaway.
It has not gone as well as they hoped for. None of the Alphabet’s big bets has become big success. The most well-known Alphabet company is Waymo (the former Google self driving car project). Verily Life Science is another one of the big bets.
According to a recent Business Insider article, 24 top execs and managers had left Verily in 2020. Their CEO Andrew Conrad stills has the support of Alphabet leadership but he is probably not the most competent operator. Verily recently hired a new COO and raised another round of $700M funding. They are still hiring a lot and they will try to have an IPO at some point.
If you’re interested in joining Verily or one of the Alphabet’s big bets, here is my advice: Treat these companies as late-stage start-ups. They pay fairly well and you’ll get some of the perks that a Google employee normally get. However, there is certain amount of risk and opportunity costs for joining these big-bet companies. Proceed with caution.