Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders • Hacker News Board

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

#61

Post by webjprgm » Wed, Oct 21, 2015, 5:11 PM UTC

coldpie wrote: post #3

What does Yahoo do? Microsoft has Windows, Office and Xbox. Amazon has massive web server and product distribution platforms. Apple has OS X and iPhone. Google has Android, search, ads, and an online office suite. What does Yahoo do? I guess they have some long-time email users and a well-liked stock tracking platform?

I used to read Yahoo! News too, but the quality became too low and the bias too annoying. I still use Yahoo! email as my secondary account.

My Dad used to spend time on Yahoo!'s portal too, mostly for stocks and movie information. I never thought it was worth going directly to Yahoo, but if a Google search sent me there for a stock then I'd read it.

The original "synergy" idea was more about being a portal. But those don't exist anymore because search completely superceded it. It seems too late for Yahoo! to revive its search business. It isn't a good aggregator or content discovery platform because there are stronger competitors like Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook.

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

#62

Post by adharmad » Wed, Oct 21, 2015, 5:16 PM UTC

jon-wood wrote: post #43

VonGuard wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So fire the people who are abusing it, along with people working on site who aren't hitting the performance Yahoo wants. Don't tar everyone with the same brush

The problem with this is, how would she know who was abusing the work-from-home facility and who was not? Mayer would have to rely on the dinosaur of Yahoo middle-management, which at best is a self-serving beast.

Mayer did not trust them, and hence her fiat action of banning working from home.

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

#63

Post by dfc » Wed, Oct 21, 2015, 5:16 PM UTC

coldpie wrote: post #3

What does Yahoo do? Microsoft has Windows, Office and Xbox. Amazon has massive web server and product distribution platforms. Apple has OS X and iPhone. Google has Android, search, ads, and an online office suite. What does Yahoo do? I guess they have some long-time email users and a well-liked stock tracking platform?

Flickr

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

#64

Post by phantom_oracle » Wed, Oct 21, 2015, 5:19 PM UTC

Going back on my time-machine, I recall when she was first hired.

Silicon Valley was abuzz with excitement, thinking Yahoo would once again become a tech-juggernaut that it once was, competing with Facebook, Google, etc.

Truth be told, the previous CEOs geared up the company to be more like Buzzfeed than like Google, making Yahoo a media company.

Granted, Yahoo would never be in the same circles as the common tech-juggernauts, but this is the natural evolution of companies.

Monsanto once used to make poison, now they force their fake-seeds to feed the world.

Deep down, we all wanted Yahoo to go back to being something, afterall, it was a cool company once upon a long 1990s time ago, but Mayer was probably the worst hire of them all.

In the end, it doesn't matter though. She has a vested interest somewhere north of US200million and her failure at Yahoo will be celebrated when Twitter hires her as "Head of UX" once someone like Carl Icahn buys Yahoo shares to spinoff Alibaba faster and then spinoff: Yahoo Finance (Bloomberg), Flickr(Facebook), etc.

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

#65

Post by HeyLaughingBoy » Wed, Oct 21, 2015, 5:27 PM UTC

allsystemsgo wrote: post #42

VonGuard wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well not every job is well suited for remote work. As a developer, you know if they're not cranking out code. You miss sprint goals. Sprint demoes are a disaster. You don't see commits. When QA or design work from home, it's not as easy to tell whether or not they're actually working. That's been my experience at least. That said, I think it was a poor choice to abolish the WFH policy.

When QA or design work from home, it's not as easy to tell whether or not they're actually working

How do you tell whether or not they're actually working when they're in the office?

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

#66

Post by jonknee » Wed, Oct 21, 2015, 5:29 PM UTC

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…

Yahoo has been poorly managed for several CEOs, it's not a new turn of events. She hasn't helped things, but it's not like Yahoo was a rocket ship before she was hired. She had an amazing opportunity to change things while Alibaba was keeping Wall Street happy, but that window has closed and she has nothing to show for it other than making herself very very wealthy. She'll be gone soon.

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

#67

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Oct 21, 2015, 5:29 PM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #59

supercanuck wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What proof is there that these people were "losers" and slackers as you put it? Shitty Yahoo products.

And your evidence that they were shitty due to the remote workers exclusively is what, exactly?

[deleted]

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

#68

Post by HeyLaughingBoy » Wed, Oct 21, 2015, 5:35 PM UTC

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…

how long should one try to make a new job work?

This question really speaks to me right now! One of the major reasons I was hired into my current job of less than two months is that I have lot of experience working in a very process-heavy environment and I'm tasked with developing appropriate processes for the pretty chaotic company I'm with now.

While I'm sure I can turn them around, there are challenges coming from every direction. The situation is somewhat worse than I expected and I need to have a frank talk with the owner about what timeframe he expects to see a significant move of the needle. I've made a few minor improvements in the 6 weeks I've been here, but people's attitudes are going to be the hardest to change.

I give it a year.

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

#69

Post by sjg007 » Wed, Oct 21, 2015, 5:39 PM UTC

phantom_oracle wrote: post #64

Going back on my time-machine, I recall when she was first hired. Silicon Valley was abuzz with excitement, thinking Yahoo would once again become a tech-juggernaut that it once was, competing with Facebook, Google, etc. Truth be told, the previous CEOs geared up the company to be more like Buzzfeed than like Google, making Yahoo a media company. Granted, Yahoo would never be in the same circles as the common tech-ju…

Nah, she'll become a VC.

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

#70

Post by venomsnake » Wed, Oct 21, 2015, 5:39 PM UTC

bru_ wrote: post #36

venomsnake wrote: post #2

For something to flounder doesn't it have to first exist? There was no turnaround.

Don't know why you're getting "greyed out", but without writing an essay about it, this

Wild guess - there were so many diversity hopes piled on her, that any mention that she is less than revolutionary outrages some people.

She is mediocre at best with nothing to show for it. Her big wins were set in motion before her time, her biggest acquisition (tumblr) is fuzzing out, and her highest profile thing was banning of remote work.