Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge • Hacker News Board

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#231

Post by oldmanjay » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 4:32 PM UTC

obrero wrote: post #51

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably not. If you want people to stay, give them a decent financial incentive. I keep seeing this sentiment, but I think it's important to distinguish between "don't give your people worthless equity instead of a good salary" and "I'm just here for the money." Starting to see a lot of the latter around here and it's disheartening. Sure, broken dreams and failed visions and all of that happens, but it's part of the…

> "I'm just here for the money"...it's disheartening Yaa, how awful...because my landlord accepts a share of my company CEO's "vision", as does my grocer > Widespread cynicism will kill high-tech What a laugh that the heirs, the LP's, the VC's and seeds and angels aren't the cynics, your unhappiness is the twenty-something wage slaves slaving away at all hours building products are now disheartening, because they're…

I like that you are saying people in their 20s making 6 figures are wage slaves. That is a worldview I never really even considered, so you have opened my mind to new possibilities.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#232

Post by profeta » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:10 PM UTC

latch wrote: post #191

profeta wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and the commenter also says in another thread: "I run an entire data center of Slackware Linux on Dell servers." so, definitely not apple. which leads me to think all that is BS and they just have too much time on their hands.

doesn't that leave walmart?

did they ever announced on the big league? I never saw them even on yahoo. only cheaper venues.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#233

Post by profeta » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:11 PM UTC

aeonflux wrote: post #190

profeta wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and the commenter also says in another thread: "I run an entire data center of Slackware Linux on Dell servers." so, definitely not apple. which leads me to think all that is BS and they just have too much time on their hands.

Apple using Slackware on Dells would be such a shocker?

i think so. at least a BSD flavour...

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#234

Post by tim333 » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 5:56 PM UTC

sireat wrote: post #212

visakanv wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Jobs or Musk in 2010 were tasked to turn Yahoo around Assuming either of them was actually given the mandate to do so by the board of directors, etc, I imagine they'd fire like 50-80% of the staff, get rid of anything that's not profitable, and produce one highly refined product at a time, something that hasn't been done well before. Source: Am both a Jobs and Musk fanboy and have done an unhealthy amount of readin…

That was a really good video and I say that as someone who is no fan of Jobs. Did NEXT manage to execute the plan and sell 50k workstations in 1991?

Seems not - from Wikipedia "The NeXT computers experienced relatively limited sales, with estimates of about 50,000 units shipped in total" "NeXT withdrew from the hardware business in 1993 "

So I'm guessing more like 20k.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#235

Post by cft » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 6:03 PM UTC

TheCowboy wrote: post #103

cft wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on who is trying to resurrect it: Marissa Meyer or Steve Jobs. Imagine a reality show: Jobs or Musk in 2010 were tasked to turn Yahoo around, and the rules were that they would only have access to Yahoo's internal resources and cash. I would bet with my money buying Yahoo stock that they would reverse the curves.

Steve Jobs and Elon Musk each had/have a different focus and drive to achieve different goals that probably have little overlap with Yahoo. They might see their best course of action as immediately resigning after taking a survey of the company, and going on to start a different company. I don't believe that if you just throw enough smart managers at the top of a hierarchy, then eventually it will spit out gold. If a…

Yahoo had one viable product: Yahoo mail. Instead of botching it, in 2010 they had a chance to make the best Android/iOS email/IM client by throwing a lot of weight behind it. The founders of WhatsApp were from Yahoo after all.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#236

Post by sjg007 » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 7:09 PM UTC

rhino369 wrote: post #50

smt88 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not enforceable. In the US, you can't enforce an employment contract if it involves forcing someone to work for you. This was partially legislated as a legal defense against indentured servitude.

You can't get "specific performance," where the court physically forces you to uphold the agreement. But it is enforceable in that Yahoo could sue for damages. The damages probably wouldn't be all that high though. It is more of an issue when the employment is something unique. Like a start athlete or movie star. You can't just find another person to play Tony Stark in Iron Man 4. But there are plenty of people who c…

But Batman gets replaced all the time... The only thing that would give leverage would be a clawback provision on the retention bonus and/or vesting.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#237

Post by rodgerd » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 7:24 PM UTC

porsupah wrote: post #219

rodgerd wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All those things are done better by others. It's highly debatable whether anyone does flickr "better". 500px, for example, have descended to suddenly announcing that they'll give away licenses for the photos you pay them to host and reward you with "exposure".

Could you expand on that? I'd be quite concerned to find my photos being licensed for commercial use without my consent.

The "Distribution Network" document, which was updated a month or so ago (https://licensing.500px.com/distribution/) under the "Content publishing partners". Sony, Google/chromcast, and Samsung all have the right to use your material uncompensated.

There is an opt-out box buried away in your preferences, but (in a shitty move) you also have to opt out of selling your images through partners at the same time - you can't disable only uncompensated use.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#238

Post by anon8418 » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 7:55 PM UTC

rdtsc wrote: post #101

anon8418 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spent a few years as a management consultant. Consultants are almost never hired to provide truly objective analysis. In most cases, they're hired to "back-up the viewpoint of a given executive". This is done by the executive to hedge the political risk required to go through with their action. They can point to McK when they defend their strategy to the board and then throw them under the bus if things don't pan o…

Yap pretty much. Remember reading an expose with some examples of how consulting firms would hire fresh grads from Ivy Leagues, and then send them to big companies, for top dollar, (or to other countries like Saudi Arabia) to basically do what you describe -- support the viewpoint of the executive who hired them. Of course all done officially with power point slides, excel spreadsheets and pie charts.

At the top tier firms, the creation of slides, charts, etc is usually outsourced to a back office dedicated to the job. I'm not sure if this is still the case at McK, but this office used to be stationed in the developing world...

Consultants would draw and describe what they wanted, goto bed, and awake to slides, charts in their inbox.

Same thing with models. Most firms have "rockstar excel jockeys" (usually analysts/associates/etc.) that are pimped out to project teams to serve this singular role (making models, building business cases, etc.).

Management consulting, such a surreal profession...

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#239

Post by anon8418 » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 7:58 PM UTC

TulliusCicero wrote: post #183

danieltillett wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why if this is the case that someone hasn’t tried to create a “discount” management consulting service which aims to give management cover, but without all the first class travel and high living. It can’t cost that much to put together a flashy powerpoint presentation.

Prestige is part of what you're paying for, though.

That is not part, it is ALL that you are paying for.

What is the difference between McK and Deloitte? One has Harvard grads the other has Cornell grads. The analysis is the same, but one is just wrapped up in a prettier package and more prestige.

Re: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge

#240

Post by stcredzero » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 10:41 PM UTC

chollida1 wrote: post #24

Sometimes, well it actually happens quite often, a company just runs its course and is better off just winding things up and closing shop. IMHO it looks like the likely end game for Yahoo is: - taken private by a Private Equity firm - divest Yahoo Japan and Alibaba - any divisions that aren't making an actual profit, (tumblr, flickr, fantasy sports, etc, will be shopped around and sold if possible, or shuttered if no…

they are at the step of brining in Mckinsley consultants, never a terribly good sign

So Mckinsley consultants are the nursing home cats of the corporate world?

http://nypost.com/2010/01/31/nursing-home-cat-can-predict-im...