????許多人認為，Nest是谷歌進軍新硬件領域的一個起點。是這樣嗎？

????在目前這個階段，我們的主要任務是盡快幫助（Nest公司CEO）托尼?法德爾實現他的愿景。我們相信，只要他的愿景能夠盡快實現，未來必將為我們創造更多機遇。

????智能家居公司Nest是谷歌風投部門Google Ventures投資的公司。對谷歌的并購部門來說，Google Ventures是否相當于業務擴展器？

????我們有著嚴密的信息隔離墻，以阻止部門間來回分享信息。我與Google Ventures的合伙人及部門主管比爾?馬里斯關系密切，但這種關系與我和凱鵬華盈（Kleiner Perkins）、安德森?霍洛維茨基金（Andreessen Horowitz）及其它大型風投的關系是一樣的。

????洽談某個交易時，比如Nest的收購中，谷歌與Google Ventures之間是否存在固有的利益沖突？谷歌想盡可能把價格壓低，而Google Ventures想必希望盡量抬高價格。

????我們有非常硬性的規定，既要保護自身的利益，同時也要保護目標公司的利益。我一旦介入某個交易，Google Ventures就會申請撤離談判。在Nest交易中，我是與克萊納（Nest早期的一位投資人）和托尼?法德爾進行談判的。有關這一交易，Google Ventures不會發表任何看法。如果我們Google Ventures旗下的投資組合公司感興趣，我們在收購時都會采取這樣的做法。

????早前，從創業者的角度來看，谷歌并不是最好的收購方。你們付出了多大的努力來改變這一點？

????現在我有很多團隊成員專注于谷歌產品的各個領域，他們對每一個領域的最新戰略都了如指掌。由此我們就能更好地了解哪些交易值得關注，同時能更好地判斷交易是否成功。

????在整合的后端，我們非常重視數據，也非常專注。我們仍然會犯錯誤，但已有的流程會確保同樣的錯誤不會一犯再犯。

????你提到了錯誤，許多人倒認為你最近把摩托羅拉（Motorola）手機部門賣給聯想（Lenovo）是在彌補一個錯誤，盡管最初收購摩托羅拉很大程度是為了它的專利組合，而谷歌最終也的確保留了這些專利。

????我認為摩托羅拉是一筆很成功的交易。從財務方面來看，我們最初買下它時花了125億美元。賣出的時候，摩托羅拉還有30億美元現金；家居部門賣了25億美元，最后手機部門又以38億美元賣出；我們還獲得了一些所得稅資產。從數目上你可以看到，我們為摩托羅拉的專利資產花費了25到35億美元。當時與這筆收購最接近的一項交易是北電網絡公司（Nortel）的專利拍賣，微軟公司（Microsoft）和蘋果公司（Apple）合伙以45億美元買了下來。但有這么一個觀點，說摩托羅拉的專利組合比北電網絡的還要好。

????拉里也說過，如果想參與手機領域的競爭，必須全面進入這個行業。我們注意到聯想公司作為合伙人已全面進軍這一領域，因此這筆交易非常合理。（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/朱毓芬/汪皓

????A lot of people see Nest as a jumping-off point to building hardware in new areas. Are they right?

????At this stage, it's really about helping [Nest CEO] Tony Fadell achieve his vision as fast as possible. And we believe that if we achieve his vision as fast as possible then it really opens up some opportunities in the future.

????Nest was a Google Ventures investment. Is Google Ventures a sort of lead generation machine for Google's M&A?

????We have a very strong ethical wall that prevents us from sharing information back and forth. I have a very close relationship with the partners at Google Ventures and with Bill Maris [who heads the venture group], but it's the same relationship I have at Kleiner Perkins or at Andreessen Horowitz and all the major VCs.

????When you are negotiating a deal like Nest, isn't there an inherent conflict of interest? Google wants the lowest possible price, and Google Ventures presumably wants the highest possible price.

????We have very strong rules in order to protect ourselves, but also to protect the target companies. Where I'm involved, Google Ventures will recuse themselves. In Nest, I negotiated with Kleiner [an early investor in Nest], and I negotiated with Tony [Fadell]. Google Ventures stayed out of providing advice in connection with the acquisition. And we do that across all our acquisitions were we are interested in a Google Ventures portfolio company.

????Early on, Google was not known as the best acquirer of companies from the point of view of entrepreneurs. How much had to work at this?

????We now have leads on my team that are embedded in the different product areas at Google. They're very closely in tune with the strategy for each of these product areas. There is a much tighter fit in terms of understanding what deals we look at and what deals are successful.

????On the integration backend, we are data-driven and we're focused. We'll still make mistakes, but we have the processes in place to make sure we don't make the same mistake twice.

????You mentioned mistakes. Many people see your recent deal to sell the Motorola handset business to Lenovo as unwinding a mistake, even though the initial acquisition of Motorola was in large part to buy its patent portfolio, which Google has kept.

????I think the Motorola transaction has been a success for us. Financially, we bought the asset for $12.5 billion. It had $3 billion in cash; we were able to sell the Home division for $2.5 billion; we ended selling the handset division for $3 billion. There were some other tax assets as well. When you work through the math, you realize we spent between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion for the patent assets. At the time, the nearest comparable transaction was the Nortel patent auction where Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL) teamed up to buy that asset for $4.5 billion. And there's a good argument that the Motorola patent portfolio is a better portfolio.

????As Larry noted, if you want to compete in the [handset] space you do need to be all in. We realized that Lenovo as a partner was all in, so that transaction made sense.