Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge • Hacker News Board

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#91

Post by jsnathan » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:00 AM UTC

PhilWright wrote: post #82

Whenever I see a struggling company like this I ask myself the simple question. If the company didn't exist, would there be a need to create it? In the case of Yahoo I think the answer is no. If they disappeared tomorrow there would be no compelling reason for others to try and fill the gap it left behind. Hell, I doubt most people would even noticed they had gone. So they need to build a new business from the dying…

I think a good idea would be to host an innovation challenge.

They are already bringing in outside consultants from McKinsey, but in this day and age, how about turning to the crowd for help? If they posted significant cash prices (say $1m total) and let their users vote on the best ideas, I bet they could find some fresh directions.

Also bet it would cost a fraction of what they pay McKinsey.

Edit: In fact, why stop there. How about making it a quarterly challenge. With follow-ups on what ideas they decided to work on and progress reports. Make Yahoo the People's company. Just my 2 cents.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#92

Post by ianamartin » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:00 AM UTC

mmaunder wrote: post #28

You can bypass the paywall with this link: http://bit.ly/1XdzZgO (Google search the original URL in quotes in future) Sounds like she's in a tough spot. You're pretty much forced into a situation of focusing on the good numbers when you're a public company or you'll get beaten up by the shareholders and shorts. So it's difficult to shine sunlight on the bad stuff to disinfect because that's not what public investors…

Saying that Google has search wrapped up today is about like saying that BlackBerry had the smartphone market wrapped up in 2007.

The space is ripe for upheaval.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#93

Post by robotresearcher » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:01 AM UTC

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #80

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't call NeXT an expensive failure, especially seeing how it laid the framework for Apple's current success. It is hard to say what would have happened if Steve Jobs stayed at Apple in the 80s....he was never actually CEO before 1997 (see http://thenextweb.com/apple/2011/08/25/a-look-at-apples-ceos... ).

NeXT effectively replaced Apple's leadership post-1996. Arguably NeXT affected the single most successful 'reverse takeover' of all time.

Pixar did the same at Disney.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#94

Post by simonebrunozzi » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:03 AM UTC

jsnathan wrote: post #91

PhilWright wrote: post #82

Whenever I see a struggling company like this I ask myself the simple question. If the company didn't exist, would there be a need to create it? In the case of Yahoo I think the answer is no. If they disappeared tomorrow there would be no compelling reason for others to try and fill the gap it left behind. Hell, I doubt most people would even noticed they had gone. So they need to build a new business from the dying…

I think a good idea would be to host an innovation challenge. They are already bringing in outside consultants from McKinsey, but in this day and age, how about turning to the crowd for help? If they posted significant cash prices (say $1m total) and let their users vote on the best ideas, I bet they could find some fresh directions. Also bet it would cost a fraction of what they pay McKinsey. Edit: In fact, why stop…

Even the best idea will face the hostility of a management that brought the company to where it is today. It never works.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#95

Post by ghaff » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:06 AM UTC

zanny wrote: post #87

DannoHung wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I object only on the grounds that Flickr is the only good photo site for people who really care about their photos. Having tried to use 500px for a few months, they cannot even manage to do album privacy correctly.

I just use imgur. Am I doing something wrong?

I don't think you're doing something wrong but I think you're doing something differently from a Flickr Pro subscriber who is using the site to store curated high quality photos online.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#96

Post by jsnathan » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:09 AM UTC

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #94

jsnathan wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a good idea would be to host an innovation challenge. They are already bringing in outside consultants from McKinsey, but in this day and age, how about turning to the crowd for help? If they posted significant cash prices (say $1m total) and let their users vote on the best ideas, I bet they could find some fresh directions. Also bet it would cost a fraction of what they pay McKinsey. Edit: In fact, why stop…

Even the best idea will face the hostility of a management that brought the company to where it is today. It never works.

Well I can't speak to their internal culture, but if it's either take advice from outside, or go under, maybe management over there needs to re-evaluate its priorities.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#97

Post by rdtsc » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:13 AM UTC

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #94

jsnathan wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a good idea would be to host an innovation challenge. They are already bringing in outside consultants from McKinsey, but in this day and age, how about turning to the crowd for help? If they posted significant cash prices (say $1m total) and let their users vote on the best ideas, I bet they could find some fresh directions. Also bet it would cost a fraction of what they pay McKinsey. Edit: In fact, why stop…

Even the best idea will face the hostility of a management that brought the company to where it is today. It never works.

Definitely.

Everyone who is there now and especially rose through the ranks at some point stood behind and toed the line that brought them to that point ("Cheered for more desktop ads, agreed and liked the 'Mavens' metric"). Now they'd face a significant cognitive dissonance if they did an about face and said "Yap that was stupid, what were we thinking!?". It just doesn't happen.

It can only happen with new people, so a lot of existing ones have to be pushed out of the door. But new ones take a while to on-board, they are outsiders and so on, they'll face internal resistance in the changes they propose.

It's the downward spiral of doom. They'll start laying off people to save money. The more people they lay off, the less likely good people would want to go work there. The less progress they'll make, so they'll have to lay off more people etc.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#98

Post by copperx » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:15 AM UTC

akg_67 wrote: post #89

PhilWright wrote: post #82

Whenever I see a struggling company like this I ask myself the simple question. If the company didn't exist, would there be a need to create it? In the case of Yahoo I think the answer is no. If they disappeared tomorrow there would be no compelling reason for others to try and fill the gap it left behind. Hell, I doubt most people would even noticed they had gone. So they need to build a new business from the dying…

> If the company didn't exist, would there be a need to create it? Should I guess that you were not adult yet when Yahoo! started? When Yahoo! was founded, there was a need for WWW site directory, and Yahoo! filled that vacuum. It was the go to place for finding the sites in your area of interest. Some of the sections of Yahoo! for example: Finance and Sports are still go to places for me and I am sure countless othe…

15 years after using Yahoo! For the first time I realize that it is still a directory...

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#99

Post by HillaryBriss » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:19 AM UTC

Bud wrote: post #73

onewaystreet wrote: post #26

The morale problem is a symptom of bad leadership. It's not going to be fixed with more bad leadership.

Steve Jobs could come back from the dead and he would be utterly helpless to revive the abject piece of crap that is Yahoo.

Warren Buffett once wrote: With few exceptions, when a manager with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for poor fundamental economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.

It's not clear to me that Yahoo's business has poor fundamental economics because I don't quite know what business it's in.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#100

Post by pbreit » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:23 AM UTC

akg_67 wrote: post #89

PhilWright wrote: post #82

Whenever I see a struggling company like this I ask myself the simple question. If the company didn't exist, would there be a need to create it? In the case of Yahoo I think the answer is no. If they disappeared tomorrow there would be no compelling reason for others to try and fill the gap it left behind. Hell, I doubt most people would even noticed they had gone. So they need to build a new business from the dying…

> If the company didn't exist, would there be a need to create it? Should I guess that you were not adult yet when Yahoo! started? When Yahoo! was founded, there was a need for WWW site directory, and Yahoo! filled that vacuum. It was the go to place for finding the sites in your area of interest. Some of the sections of Yahoo! for example: Finance and Sports are still go to places for me and I am sure countless othe…

Neither are very good and I think there would be a rush to fill the gap with superior offerings.