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Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

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Re: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

#201

Post by c2 »

steve8918 wrote: post #179
johnnybgoode wrote: post #67

Wow, years later, even after her de facto demotion at Google, people still think she's some kind of product genius? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1028615 This is a hilarious situation.

From the description, her behavior reminds me a lot of how Steve Jobs behaved. If you read the biography, Jobs would often contradict himself, he was extremely rude, he would cry at meetings, he would hear an idea and say it was shit, and then the next week propose the exact same idea as his own, etc. I'm not saying she is at all comparable to Steve Jobs, but it sounds like they both know what they want, and don't sp…

CEOs in general tend to be hard to work with. There are also anecdotes about Gates being rude.

Further, I would say the people who want to judge a character by a few anecdotes are being lazy, small minded, and short sighted. Jobs, Gates, and Mayer are all different people with their own styles. I'm not sure if Mayer's style will be what Yahoo needs, but I wish her the best of luck.

Re: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

#202

Post by Gaussian »

She did the right thing. I think she had peaked at Google.

She risks "failure" at Yahoo, but that's why this is the right move. What was she to do at Google -- just drift along as the cofounders continue to (rightly) control the company?

I've never been a huge fan nor a detractor of Mayer, but I'll be rooting for Yahoo now. It's about time for another epic comeback story in SV. Long odds, but that's why this is fun.

Re: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

#203

Post by wilfra »

steve8918 wrote: post #179
johnnybgoode wrote: post #67

Wow, years later, even after her de facto demotion at Google, people still think she's some kind of product genius? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1028615 This is a hilarious situation.

From the description, her behavior reminds me a lot of how Steve Jobs behaved. If you read the biography, Jobs would often contradict himself, he was extremely rude, he would cry at meetings, he would hear an idea and say it was shit, and then the next week propose the exact same idea as his own, etc. I'm not saying she is at all comparable to Steve Jobs, but it sounds like they both know what they want, and don't sp…

A lot of people are assholes. That doesn't mean they are like Steve Jobs.

That description of her didn't include a single word saying anything positive about how she did her job. No description of Jobs of similar length, regardless of how much the writer hated him, would have failed to mention that Jobs also had many positive qualities.

Re: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

#204

Post by wcdolphin »

$100 says Yahoo is acquired by Google in the next three years. Any takers? I am imagining/hoping for a more successful version of the Stephen Elop leaves Microsoft, runs Nokia, forms a strong partnership with Microsoft. But this time, Yahoo is even more in the pits.

Re: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

#205

Post by raldi »

richardv wrote: post #12

Can someone explain how she is able to do this? Set aside the boldness of the move, but if anyone ever should be put on some kind of "garden leave" or some kind of non-compete it would be a person moving from a prominent position in Google to become CEO of Yahoo? Anyway, that aside. One thing that I hope that comes from this, is bringing some of the same Google-quality-developer-friendly-ethos to Yahoo. Dispite consu…

> June 16th, "Marrissa Meyer Makes Move to Yahoo"

Psst: It's July.

Re: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

#206

Post by larrys »

uptown wrote: post #14
jbyers wrote: post #2

Wow. I am speechless. There is probably no better person on earth to light a user- and product-focused fire under Yahoo. But the risk, the risk for her is just stunning. Huge props to her for making the leap from what must be a very comfortable Google and for the board for finding a stunning candidate to lead the revival of Yahoo. (Edit: my definition of risk is lost time and missed opportunity. She's not going to su…

"the risk for her is just stunning" What risk? She's already achieved complete financial security from here time at Google. At Yahoo! she'll be taking the reins of a company that still attracts a massive userbase but is aching for someone with a fresh viewpoint on how to transform the company. Nothing buy potential IMO.

"someone with a fresh viewpoint on how to transform the company"

Prior to joining google in 1999 as employee number 20 "Mayer worked at the UBS research lab (Ubilab) in Zurich, Switzerland, and at SRI International in Menlo Park, California" (wikipedia) for what appears to be only a few years. (She graduated high school in 1993, received a B.S. and and M.S. which must have taken at least 4 or 5 years afaik).

My guess is that she has a great deal of confidence, confidence built on the fact that she was an early google employee and she was able to ride the success of that opportunity. But her entire working career is basically google and I'm not sure she brings the depth of experience necessary to take on turning around the fortunes of Yahoo.

Re: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

#207

Post by tjmc »

azylman wrote: post #149
jbyers wrote: post #2

Wow. I am speechless. There is probably no better person on earth to light a user- and product-focused fire under Yahoo. But the risk, the risk for her is just stunning. Huge props to her for making the leap from what must be a very comfortable Google and for the board for finding a stunning candidate to lead the revival of Yahoo. (Edit: my definition of risk is lost time and missed opportunity. She's not going to su…

I don't think there's a lot of reputation risk for her, here... I'm pretty sure that if Yahoo continues it's current course, the majority reaction will be "Well, Yahoo was a sinking ship anyway, there's not a lot she could have done" but if Yahoo makes a comeback she'll be hailed as a miracle worker.

Don't be so sure. Nokia was a sinking ship before Elop joined and now he's wearing most of the blame. Sure, he could have hitched Nokia's wagon to Android instead. But given that Google own competitor Motorola and are selling the killer Nexus 7 at no margin, they aren't exactly an ideal partner either.

Re: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

#208

Post by wpietri »

product50 wrote: post #86
adventureful wrote: post #32

This will play out much like Armstrong at AOL. Lots of flailing around, another attempt at altering Yahoo's trajectory, and ultimately a further devalued company (not specifically because of anything Mayer will do, but because there's nothing that can stop Yahoo's erosion). At some point the conclusion needs to be reached that the core of Yahoo is the problem. The products that generate the bulk of their sales are at…

Good advice. So according to you nothing can be changed at Yahoo! no matter who comes in. Apple was in a similar situation not long ago and I am sure there were people like you commenting similarly. I am not saying Marissa is similar to Steve Jobs but at least she has the credibility and qualification to make things work. Why comment when you have nothing to add?

Note that Jobs didn't turn around Apple alone. He had built an entire separate company with a strong team and a strong technology. That was vital to the turnaround. In some ways, Apple didn't acquire Next; Next ate Apple from within. Aided, of course, by Jobs knowing the company and its markets inside and out.

And that wasn't enough; 3 years later they got their new OS out, but they were still a small player in their markets.

It was something like 4 years from takeover until they released the iPod, and circa 7 years before the stock really started to take off.

Even Yahoo can survive long enough for Mayer to find some new multi-billion idea, I'm not sure whether key shareholders or the board will give her enough rope to make significant changes.

Re: Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief

#209

Post by wilfra »

VikingCoder wrote: post #147

Marissa Mayer (2012-Present) Ross Levinsohn (Interim) (2012) Scott Thompson (2012) Tim Morse (Interim) (2011-2012) Carol Bartz (2009-2011) Jerry Yang (2007-2009) Terry Semel (2001-2007) Timothy Koogle (1995-2001) I seriously hope that the Board of Directors has some idea of what they're doing, because their track record certainly doesn't look like it. EDIT: To be clear, this wasn't meant as a slam on Marissa. What I…

When Thompson got pushed out new people took control of the Board, including the hedge fund that outed him for lying about his CS degree.

In the same way you can't attribute past failures to Mayer, you can't attribute them to the current Board either.

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