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Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

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Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#31

Post by sirkneeland »

heimatau wrote: post #27

Maybe Twitter/Yahoo should team up or Snapchat. Get these teens some ads. Yahoo's mobile strategy is a struggle, maybe some partnerships are in order. I honestly believe Mayer could do it but since none of their apps are FB/Instagram/WhatsApp nor do they have the traction as these juggernauts, I'd suggest a partnership. Come on Yahoo. Find a niche, make some money. Losing these talented people. Maybe it's because the…

I think that was the idea behind the Tumblr acquisition.

It's just really, really hard to buy something "hot" without killing it (by external reputation/customer satisfaction or internal employee exodus)

Off the top of my head I can only think of two that worked (Instagram, WhatsApp) and Facebook deserves huge credit for that.

I don't think my own employer (Nokia), even in its heyday, ever successfully acquired and integrated a company.

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#32

Post by sirkneeland »

biot wrote: post #24
JSeymourATL wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> how long should one try to make a new job work? Depends on your mandate going in. Stick-to-itivness is a desirable leadership quality. Most industries consider business cycles in annual terms. If you can't move the needle in 24-36 months, do everyone a favor and move-on. A 3 week stint however, is not worth putting on your CV.

> Stick-to-itivness Tenacity.

vocabularity

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#33

Post by dlandis »

orf wrote: post #26

> Jon McCormack: At the end of last year, Mayer scored a coup in the hiring of the Amazon star to be in charge of all of Yahoo’s mobile engineers. He only stayed a few weeks. Ouch.

I don't know anything about him, but I would love to hear the story about how bad/hopeless a situation must need to be in order to warrant leaving so soon.

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#34

Post by heimatau »

sirkneeland wrote: post #31
heimatau wrote: post #27

Maybe Twitter/Yahoo should team up or Snapchat. Get these teens some ads. Yahoo's mobile strategy is a struggle, maybe some partnerships are in order. I honestly believe Mayer could do it but since none of their apps are FB/Instagram/WhatsApp nor do they have the traction as these juggernauts, I'd suggest a partnership. Come on Yahoo. Find a niche, make some money. Losing these talented people. Maybe it's because the…

I think that was the idea behind the Tumblr acquisition. It's just really, really hard to buy something "hot" without killing it (by external reputation/customer satisfaction or internal employee exodus) Off the top of my head I can only think of two that worked (Instagram, WhatsApp) and Facebook deserves huge credit for that. I don't think my own employer (Nokia), even in its heyday, ever successfully acquired and i…

I agree that is what was behind Tumblr. But it's my belief that integration will take time. Yahoo could get ahold of some of the mobile ads, they've been investing heavily in mobile development. Twitter is about to make a big push with Dorsey (he's smart enough to know that's where he competes) and so is Snapchat, which is why I mentioned them.

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#35

Post by ChuckMcM »

throwitaway1981 wrote: post #6

I'm curious: how bad is it to leave a new job soon after starting (because you realize the product isn't as great as what you thought it would be/too much competition in space)? When you are a high performer, you really don't want to waste everyone's time if you end up in this bad situation. What is the professional thing to do? Asking because the article mentioned some people staying only for a few weeks. In a small…

When I'm interviewing someone who bounced from a job I ask them about it. A lot depends on their answer. Everyone has different levels of introspection and self awareness. Experiencing a job where, after a very short while you left that job[1], means that something reasonably powerful didn't work out. How the candidate deals with that speaks to their ability to understand themselves and the situations they are in.

Bottom line, it could encourage me to hire someone or not hire someone, just like any other bit of experience in their background. Just in this case its more about them and less about what they did in that previous role.

[1] and the company is still in business, and it didn't announce it killed the division you joined just as you joined Etc.

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#37

Post by whitneyrzoller »

ufmace wrote: post #17
throwitaway1981 wrote: post #6

I'm curious: how bad is it to leave a new job soon after starting (because you realize the product isn't as great as what you thought it would be/too much competition in space)? When you are a high performer, you really don't want to waste everyone's time if you end up in this bad situation. What is the professional thing to do? Asking because the article mentioned some people staying only for a few weeks. In a small…

It only really matters in the eyes of potential future employers, so consider how it looks to them. Having done interviews and resume screening myself, I wouldn't balk too hard at one quick departure, but I would want to hear a good explanation for why you left so soon. The job and/or company being very clearly something different from what you were told would be a good one. Multiple quick departures in a row are kin…

It would seem to matter not. Have a look at JMs career trajectory following his (first) exit from Amazon. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmccormack Amazon welcomes him back after a two month tour of duty with Yahoo. Six months later he goes to Google. He's got some obvious next steps: Apple, Tesla, Facebook, Snapchat?! Throw in some sentimental stints back at old Amazon, that's a career baby!

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#38

Post by VonGuard »

USNetizen wrote: post #28

Maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the whole "work in our offices or quit" memo sent to virtual employees a while back not paying the dividends she had hoped. Adding insult to injury, perhaps her build-out of a full private nursery in the executive suite staffed with her personal nannies while simultaneously requiring staff to stop working remotely, even part time, had a deleterious impact on morale and w…

The buzz about their work from home program was that people were abusing it and not doing actual work. I agree, they should be able to work from home, but when she did this, she was basically firing a buncha losers. They should allow people to work from home again, though.

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#39

Post by USNetizen »

VonGuard wrote: post #38
USNetizen wrote: post #28

Maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the whole "work in our offices or quit" memo sent to virtual employees a while back not paying the dividends she had hoped. Adding insult to injury, perhaps her build-out of a full private nursery in the executive suite staffed with her personal nannies while simultaneously requiring staff to stop working remotely, even part time, had a deleterious impact on morale and w…

The buzz about their work from home program was that people were abusing it and not doing actual work. I agree, they should be able to work from home, but when she did this, she was basically firing a buncha losers. They should allow people to work from home again, though.

What proof is there that these people were "losers" and slackers as you put it?

Either way, you're right about needing to open it back up. The impact to morale overall must have been huge when these people had to scramble to protect their livelihood.

Re: Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders

#40

Post by PakG1 »

xacaxulu wrote: post #19

This is really too bad for diversity. >>Just last week, Yahoo lost two senior women execs — development head Jackie Reses to Square and marketing partnerships head Lisa Licht. Before that, another exec once close to Mayer — CMO Kathy Savitt — left for a job at a Hollywood entertainment company, although sources said that was due in part to increased estrangement between her and Mayer.

How is that bad for diversity? Reses landing at Square is not a bad thing for diversity. The others don't seem like they'll land at bad spots either. They were poached or left of their own accord, not fired. If Yahoo's the only game in town, then yeah, it's bad for diversity. But Yahoo's not the only game in town.
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