Google dropped a bunker-buster of a news release into the sleepy summer technology world on Monday, with its announcement that the $345-billion company is restructuring, an ambitious move that will make the search company just an operating unit of a much larger entity called Alphabet.
Once tech watchers managed to pick their chins up off the floor, reaction to the news ranged from shock and surprise to admiration at the sheer audacity of such a move. Here are some of the responses we’ve collected from tech insiders and others on Twitter — if you have any good ones, feel free to retweet them and tag @mathewi and we’ll try to add them.
A number of people made fun of the name Alphabet, saying the company was going to ruin its SEO, or conversely that SEO is why it changed its name:
https://twitter.com/dannysullivan/status/630848394580197376
But chairman Eric Schmidt defended the choice:
I think the Alphabet name is Awesome. Http://t.co/2bqtPEjoQH
— Eric Schmidt (@ericschmidt) August 10, 2015
Some wondered whether this might allow Google to get away from its troublesome motto “Don’t be evil”
So, will #Alphabet adopt #Google's corporate motto, or will they be allowed to be a wee bit evil?
— Solarina Ho🐉侯翊 (@shtweet) August 10, 2015
Former Android executive and Founders Collective investor Gaurav Jain admired the chutzpah of the company’s move:
.@Google stock up 4% in after-hours. How does a $400B+ public co pull off crazy maneuvers like Alphabet, etc.? #OnlyAtGoogle
— Gaurav Jain (@gjain) August 10, 2015
Balaji Srinivasan, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, drew a comparison to Warren Buffett’s holding company:
https://twitter.com/balajis/status/630864838739124224
Peter Rojas, co-founder of technology blogs Gizmodo and Engadget, said he thinks it’s a way for Google’s executive team to maintain control without having to leave:
https://twitter.com/peterrojas/status/630847946838405120
Investor and former YouTube executive Hunter Walk noted that Google’s move effectively dwarfs the restructuring moves of most other companies:
https://twitter.com/hunterwalk/status/630846544908959744
Others speculated that Sundar Pichai, who becomes CEO of Google, got a competing offer and this was partly driven by an attempt to keep him happy:
@mathewi Sundar got a CEO offer, Google needed to respond.
— Jon Lax (@jlax) August 10, 2015
Bilal Zuberi, a Lux Capital partner, wondered how this move will affect the venture capital landscape:
VCs in SV found questioning each other: who now buys our companies, Alphabet or Google?
— Bilal Zuberi (@bznotes) August 10, 2015
Sam Altman, president of the influential startup seed fund and incubator Y Combinator, saw some similarities in the new entity:
Google: the Y Combinator of big tech companies.
— Sam Altman (@sama) August 10, 2015
Aaron Levie, the CEO of cloud-storage company Box, commented on the sheer size and scope of Alphabet:
You've really made it in life when Google is just 1/26th of the total companies you own.
— Aaron Levie (@levie) August 10, 2015
Startup founder Ouriel Ohayon noted that there is more than one way to interpret the new company’s name:
Alphabet can also be read Alpha “bet” pic.twitter.com/5qzingLw3Y
— Ouriel 🇮🇱 (@OurielOhayon) August 10, 2015
Former PayPal and LinkedIn executived Keith Rabois questioned whether the restructuring made sense given some of the decisions about what to include in the parent holding company:
Android and YT staying with Google sort of undermines the macro point.
— Keith Rabois (@rabois) August 10, 2015
Techdirt founder Mike Masnick wondered whether Google’s restructuring might be driven by legal concerns:
https://twitter.com/mmasnick/status/630855142804320256
And one member of “Finance Twitter” pointed out that whatever they might think of Google’s move, investors don’t have much of a choice because of the way the company is structured:
https://twitter.com/IvanTheK/status/630854680214642688
Meanwhile, Politico’s deputy media editor was one of those who pointed out that the text on Google’s information page for the new company contains a hidden link to a webpage for the fictitious company “Hooli” from the satirical TV show Silicon Valley:
Step one: go to http://t.co/mK7lm118Ee Step two: click the period after "drone delivery effort. Step three: enjoy. Pic.twitter.com/2y0HguSVSM
— Alex Weprin (@alexweprin) August 10, 2015
And blogger Andy Baio of WaxPancake made a logo for the new entity:
I made a logo for Alphabet. Pic.twitter.com/iM120DlFZK
— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) August 10, 2015