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Yahoo SEC Filing: Name change to Altaba Inc and director resignations

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Re: Yahoo SEC Filing: Name change to Altaba Inc and director resignations

#181

Post by usrusr »

stanleydrew wrote: post #116
idlewords wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She was very well compensated for her time sinking Yahoo. I think this kind of tone policing is unhealthy.

Upvoted since I think this discussion might be interesting. I'm wondering why people focus on financial compensation so much? Why does how much someone was paid justify more or less bashing, as the case might be? And what's unhealthy about tone policing? I'll leave aside the way you've negatively framed my attempt to steer the conversation in a more positive direction, and just say that I don't see what the purpose o…

If I take the time to put criticism of the contract in one mental bucket and criticism of the person and/or her performance in another, I get the impression that the preemptive tone policing loses much of its cause. I'd rather have those two buckets nicely separated than shushed together.

Re: Yahoo SEC Filing: Name change to Altaba Inc and director resignations

#182

Post by hamandcheese »

flukus wrote: post #141
djsumdog wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think back to Gillard and Australia. I liked her as a PM and felt that the reason she didn't make it is she simply wasn't heartless and evil enough to fight in that chaotic, insane and corrupt political environment. Abbott was and Rudd..ugh..something something party implosion; whatever. It has nothing to do with her being a women. There just aren't many people who can put up with that endless rubbish. With Yahoo,…

> I liked her as a PM and felt that the reason she didn't make it is she simply wasn't heartless and evil enough to fight in that chaotic, insane and corrupt political environment. She became PM by playing that game. Her public persona was ruined because she played it too publicly and she should be held responsible for starting a decade long period of political instability.

Can you elaborate or provide a reference of how she caused political instability? I can't seem to find anything about it from Google.

Re: Yahoo SEC Filing: Name change to Altaba Inc and director resignations

#183

Post by iaw »

javiayala wrote: post #48
stanleydrew wrote: post #22

Rather than the inevitable bashing of Marissa that will undoubtedly unfurl on this thread, I'd like to put in a little reminder that we usually celebrate taking on big projects and big risks and that we should commend her for taking on the immense challenge of steadying the Yahoo ship. Yes, she wasn't able to keep the ship from sinking. But I do think she put in a good-faith effort.

I want to echo on your message and also to thank you for contributing with a positive comment and not with a harsh one like most people often do. I remember a few years ago when some of the stuff that Marissa was doing to reshape Yahoo's internal structure were being looked with good eyes and were being replicated in other companies (Bringing in remote people, focusing on some products, etc.) I guess we can all agree…

> doing to reshape Yahoo's internal structure were being looked with good eyes

My recollection of those events were that Marissa Mayer exercised her privilege to have a daycare next to her office while ignoring the needs of all the parents that worked for her. Those were the events that made me dislike her, it showed antipathy for the people that had stuck at Yahoo.

Re: Yahoo SEC Filing: Name change to Altaba Inc and director resignations

#185

Post by iaw »

djsumdog wrote: post #36

I wish there was a real alternative to search. I use DuckDuckGo, but I believe they run on AWS and purchase index data from Yandex et. al. At this point, is it even feasible for anyone to enter the general search market, or has Google simply set the barrier to entry too high? Are there any niche search engines that focus on things Google has either removed or doesn't index? Are there other alternatives besides DDG, S…

It's possible but the volume investment required makes it unlikely. The resource requirements to create a quality scrape/search engine are pretty extensive.

Re: Yahoo SEC Filing: Name change to Altaba Inc and director resignations

#186

Post by elsewhen »

Cyph0n wrote: post #97
hoorayimhelping wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"At this point, is it even feasible for anyone to enter the desktop computer market, or has Microsoft simply set the barrier to entry too high?" -Us, 1999 One thing I've observed in tech over the past 25 years is that change comes from unexpected places and often very quickly.

Uhhh how has the answer to that question changed though? Windows remains the undisputed king of the desktop.

just because windows remains the king of desktop, it doesnt mean that change hasn't affected them... in this case, the desktop is becoming less and less relavent. it is new platforms that are rendering windows less important. android, ios, alexa, google home - computing is moving away from the desktop.

similarly, google's near-monopoly in search, is not really threatened by other pure-play search engines, but rather out of left field: facebook and amazon. google may very well be the dominant search engine in a decade or two, but search may not matter as much as it did in the last decade because other platforms rise in prominence.

Re: Yahoo SEC Filing: Name change to Altaba Inc and director resignations

#187

Post by psgbg »

pgodzin wrote: post #136
idlewords wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She was very well compensated for her time sinking Yahoo. I think this kind of tone policing is unhealthy.

What level of compensation would it take to make such a statement OK? I'm sure plenty of execs turned it down because of the risk of failure and the inevitable microscope and personal attacks associated with being the CEO of one of the most recognizable but failing companies in the world.

The previous CEO was so sunk by the credentials he couldn't met.

I don't know if you share my vision, but for me in that moment it felt like the house was on fire, the firetruck was on fire and the fire was on fire.

I don't know if a better job could be made, but at least some public face was saved, and the shareholders bought it until the last day.

Re: Yahoo SEC Filing: Name change to Altaba Inc and director resignations

#188

Post by CalChris »

brandnewlow wrote: post #176
akjainaj wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there is absolutely no indication that anybody, other than Jesus Christ himself descending from the skies mounted on a Harley Davidson in flames, could have saved Yahoo. So, bashing Marissa here would be really, really pointless and sad.

Bashing her may also be naive. She may not have been hired to "save Yahoo!". She may have been hired to make a lot of money for Dan Loeb's hedge fund, and succeeded at that, if you believe the telling in this piece: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/marissa-mayer-biography-20... Summary: - Loeb decides he can make a bunch of money if he can invest in Yahoo!, clean out the board, and get a more compelling CEO in charg…

I like your narrative and Dan Loeb should certainly send Mayer a Christmas card. Still, if indeed she was hired to make money for Dan Loeb then that does not speak any better to her managerial competence.

Re: Yahoo SEC Filing: Name change to Altaba Inc and director resignations

#189

Post by cloakandswagger »

speaktruth wrote: post #173
stanleydrew wrote: post #22

Rather than the inevitable bashing of Marissa that will undoubtedly unfurl on this thread, I'd like to put in a little reminder that we usually celebrate taking on big projects and big risks and that we should commend her for taking on the immense challenge of steadying the Yahoo ship. Yes, she wasn't able to keep the ship from sinking. But I do think she put in a good-faith effort.

What exactly do you want to accomplish with this comment? Are you really suggesting that we shouldn't analyze and criticize Marissa for failing? Why is it important to you to create a safe space for this CEO? This CEO had a very self-confident attitude but in the end got nothing right. There were no signs progress and development with her and the company. She showed no intrinsic focus and absolutely no creativity. An…

I can answer that: because she's a woman. That's the ugly truth behind the rabid defense of Marissa. Because she joins a long line of failed female CEOs and the mere recognition of this fact sends certain people into a frenzy, so just deny, deny, deny.

I fully expect to be repudiated as a misogynist by a tidal wave of people drunk off this cognitive dissonance, but I simply speak the truth. Marissa was an abysmal CEO, and for years people will try to whitewash that to avoid its ugly stain on female professionals.

Re: Yahoo SEC Filing: Name change to Altaba Inc and director resignations

#190

Post by flukus »

hamandcheese wrote: post #182
flukus wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I liked her as a PM and felt that the reason she didn't make it is she simply wasn't heartless and evil enough to fight in that chaotic, insane and corrupt political environment. She became PM by playing that game. Her public persona was ruined because she played it too publicly and she should be held responsible for starting a decade long period of political instability.

Can you elaborate or provide a reference of how she caused political instability? I can't seem to find anything about it from Google.

She ousted a sitting first term PM through backroom deals to make herself PM. This kicked off a decade where the Prime Ministers office had to get a revolving door installed.
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