SAN FRANCISCO -- The days of free spending appear to be waning as Alphabet gets serious about subsidiary companies becoming more disciplined and accountable. "The fiscal discipline era has now descended upon everything," Tony Fadell, the CEO of smart device subsidiary Nest, told The Information in an interview. Google bought Fadell's company for 3.2 billion in 2014. We're going to hold you to those numbers," Fadell said. Last week Bloomberg reported that Alphabet is trying to sell Boston Dynamics, the robotics start-up it bought in late 2013, because it's unlikely to release a marketable product in the next few years. "There is increasingly a new level of financial discipline being injected into how Alphabet allocates capital," said S&P Global Market Intelligence analyst Scott Kessler. He and other analysts see the influence of chief financial officer Ruth Porat, who has shown a greater willingness to keep costs in check while still aggressively pursuing revenue growth. "From an investor's perspective, you want Alphabet and Google out there taking risks and making big bets.