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Yahoo to cut 15 percent jobs, close several units

reuters.com

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Re: Yahoo to cut 15 percent jobs, close several units

#251

Post by nikdaheratik »

Riod wrote: post #173

As a post mortem of sorts, could someone with an understanding of yahoo from the inside explain why they have failed to innovate for 10+ years?

I don't think it's just about innovation. They were one of the first big companies to figure out how to make money selling ads on the Internet, though many of their best paying customers were actually failed dot-coms. It was still enough to get them through that first round okay.

The main thing they've lost out on is not having something that competes with Google on ads. Especially the part where Google's entire ad buy market is automated while Yahoo's isn't. Their management made a big bet that just giving out media and other cools stuff for free to users would bring in enough eyeballs to make things profitable. That worked for awhile, but the switch to mobile and a large number of other competitors on the Internet ad front has hurt both income and market share.

Re: Yahoo to cut 15 percent jobs, close several units

#252

Post by fma »

henrikschroder wrote: post #143
nobleach wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's incredibly sad when something like this happens. And I sure hope anyone who's found themselves out of a job, success in finding another. Even the "lower performers" still need to work. What I do hope for Yahoo, is that they're taking a solid look at who they consider expendable. Are self-important big shots also losing their jobs? Or are they too important to fire? When I see any company start to get rid of thei…

Seriously, if you've ever worked at a large company in SV, you should know that the "lavish parties" thing was a completely envy-driven red herring. If you do the math you realize that the holiday party cost a few hundred bucks per attending employee. Compared to other large SV companies - that are not under fire in the press - this was a cheap holiday party.

I don't work for a large company in SV, but do work for a large company of a market cap of almost 50 billion (larger than Yahoo).

We had record profits last quarter. Our market is growing. And we don't get jack squat for perks. We come in, work, go home. No holiday parties. Not even free coffee. I used to complain...actually still do. But, that's the expectation now. Hope it improves, but not holding my breath.

On the other hand my salary is 10% more than my previous company which had free snacks, Christmas gifts, etc.

Re: Yahoo to cut 15 percent jobs, close several units

#253

Post by fma »

melted wrote: post #108

My only hope wrt Yahoo is that Yahoo Finance gets sold to someone before the company implodes. It's basically the only top notch, useful site they run.

Yes, one of the few (only?) sources of real time quotes...not even my damn brokerage provides real time quotes for free.

Re: Yahoo to cut 15 percent jobs, close several units

#254

Post by prostoalex »

jazzyk wrote: post #249
prostoalex wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we probably all agree that Yahoo's investors didn't get their money's worth on a marquee CEO Disagree. If you bought YHOO in mid-2012 before Marissa joined, you'd have doubled your investment by now. I understand there's the option value of having invested in some better stocks, and YHOO's correlation to BABA, but one could still do a lot worse than doubling the investment. https://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&ch…

Yes, but she had nothing to do with the stock price rising (all due to BABA's rising value). If someone offered me a shitload of money to run a sinking ship, I would have taken the job, just as she did. With this level of compensation, she's all set for life, does not need another job ever. But, with her connections and name recognition, she will have no trouble finding one - trust me. It is a systemic problem with b…

> she had nothing to do with the stock price rising (all due to BABA's rising value).

The decision to keep the BABA chunk versus spinning it off or distributing it to shareholders was CEO's decision, there were other interests at play urging other outcomes.

She still had a handle on the cost structure of the underlying business - expenses related to employee headcount, office leases, new project investments, outsourcing vs keeping things in-house - impacted the stock price to some extent, things could've been much worse.

I think she was set for life well before Yahoo! offer, and in light of recent developments with GOOG her Alphabet holdings might have appreciated at faster pace than her Yahoo! holdings.

Moreover, her decisions are not terribly out of line with her predecessors' decisions - Scott Thompson and Carol Bartz layed off, outsourced and cut expenses as well.

Could she have done a better job? Perhaps. Was she the absolute worst CEO Yahoo! could've landed? Probably not.

Re: Yahoo to cut 15 percent jobs, close several units

#255

Post by discardorama »

anotherhacker wrote: post #165
henrikschroder wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously, if you've ever worked at a large company in SV, you should know that the "lavish parties" thing was a completely envy-driven red herring. If you do the math you realize that the holiday party cost a few hundred bucks per attending employee. Compared to other large SV companies - that are not under fire in the press - this was a cheap holiday party.

Lavish parties send the wrong message to employees. If I were CEO I'd say: "No more parties. We're going to use the to retrain employees (instead of firing them) and avoid layoffs." Mayer is turing out to be a terrible CEO. This article describes the various multi-million dollar parties. http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-ceo-marissa-mayer-blows...

I was at Yahoo when Carol Bartz came in and did exactly that. And guess what? Morale plummeted.

"The beatings will continue until the morale improves" .... ever heard of that?

Re: Yahoo to cut 15 percent jobs, close several units

#256

Post by Crito »

GFK_of_xmaspast wrote: post #227
Crito wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tumblr has a problem of demographics which makes it difficult for Yahoo to make money off of it. A very large segment of their users are teenagers, and another large segment do little other than post pornography.

Teens are great to market to because they can get money out of their parents.

Much easier to get money out of people who can get money from themselves.

Ad impressions from adults are worth more than ad impressions from teenagers.

Re: Yahoo to cut 15 percent jobs, close several units

#257

Post by WalterBright »

nikdaheratik wrote: post #246
WalterBright wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember Apple when Jobs took it over? 90 days from bankruptcy, and written off by most people. Getting the right CEO is enormously important, and not impossible.

No I don't remember them being "90 days from bankruptcy". They had a cash hoard the envy of many U.S. states, a small but loyal group of paying customers, and a number of sources of actual non-hardware revenue from key inventions and licenses. And they didn't have a bunch of employees from legacy business deals to find homes for. What Apple lacked was a clear focus on what their business needed to be, which was selli…

"Apple Was 90 Days From Going Bankrupt"

  -- http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/06/02/steve-jobs-90-days/#gref
"At an executive Session of the board in June, with Amelio out of the room, Woolard described to current directors how he calculated their odds. "If we stay with Gil as CEO, think there's only 10% chance we will avoid bankruptcy," he said. "If we fire him and convince Steve to come take over, we have 60% chance of surviving. If we fire Gil, don't get Steve back, and have to search for new CEO, then we have a 40% chance of surviving. "The board gave him authority to ask Jobs to return."

  -- "Steve Jobs", Isaacson, pg 314
> What no one here or anywhere else seems to have an answer for is "What is Yahoo's core business".

That's probably indicative that we are not CEO material :-)

Re: Yahoo to cut 15 percent jobs, close several units

#258

Post by CryoLogic »

tomp wrote: post #86
guelo wrote: post #80

They're going to kill Yahoo because some rich assholes don't want to pay their taxes.

No, they're going to kill Yahoo because it deserves to die; a company not making money doesn't really have a reason for existence, does it? (Or it should become a charity instead.)

By the logic in this thread, Microsoft also needs to die. IBM, HP and Dell too. All companies who haven't been innovative, but rather coming in second to existing markets and doing a mediocre job.

Turns out second place still pays the bills, and takes much less risk than trying something new. That's Yahoo's core strategy.

Re: Yahoo to cut 15 percent jobs, close several units

#259

Post by tamana »

cballard wrote: post #214
henrikschroder wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, by most people's standards, which is why the piece is working, it creates envy in a lot of people. Same with the "free food" spiel. But Yahoo is competing for Silicon Valley software engineers, and perks are very common, so if you don't have free food, free snacks, office parties, events, and other benefits, you'll have to pay your employees a lot more. Perks are incredibly cheap for the company, because people…

Enough with the free snacks and parties. You know what I want as a perk? The company turns off at 5pm. That's it, no more work, go home, no exceptions. Company email shuts down, no access on your smartphone until 9am. Now that's a perk. I'll buy my own junk food[0], and I'll go to parties with my friends, not my coworkers. [0] or, well, I won't - another problem with the perks, I want to snack on carrots and skim gre…

SV companies serve carrots and yogurt alongside the chips and candy.

Re: Yahoo to cut 15 percent jobs, close several units

#260

Post by tamana »

cballard wrote: post #214
henrikschroder wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, by most people's standards, which is why the piece is working, it creates envy in a lot of people. Same with the "free food" spiel. But Yahoo is competing for Silicon Valley software engineers, and perks are very common, so if you don't have free food, free snacks, office parties, events, and other benefits, you'll have to pay your employees a lot more. Perks are incredibly cheap for the company, because people…

Enough with the free snacks and parties. You know what I want as a perk? The company turns off at 5pm. That's it, no more work, go home, no exceptions. Company email shuts down, no access on your smartphone until 9am. Now that's a perk. I'll buy my own junk food[0], and I'll go to parties with my friends, not my coworkers. [0] or, well, I won't - another problem with the perks, I want to snack on carrots and skim gre…

SV companies serve carrots and yogurt alongside the chips and candy.
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