Google’s Marissa Mayer Tapped as Yahoo’s Chief • Hacker News Board

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

#331

Post by gbog » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 3:06 PM UTC

mmakunas wrote: post #74

jbyers wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not talking about money or reputation. The risk I see is time and opportunity. She could spend a maddening four years not moving the needle at Yahoo rather than another company or a startup of her own. Four years of punishing travel, endless meetings, unending Wall Street scrutiny. That risk.

True, but Yahoo! has made so many mistakes that she would have to really to screw up (like lie on your resume) for it to hurt her reputation. So that time and opportunity cost is unlikely to ever be a waste. If she fails, well Yahoo! was already a failure, if she succeeds, she's a perceived as savior. Either way, she's a contenter for ceo of any other major internet company going forward.

The law of statistics and its regression to the mean tell me she will likely succeed, but should not be credited for this success.

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

#332

Post by gdilla » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 3:21 PM UTC

itsprofitbaron wrote: post #157

gdilla wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And if she crashes and burns, she gets what, 50million in an exit package? Why not take that.

Marissa was an early employee at Google, she was employee 20 there and Google's first female hire - she's worth ~$300 Million, I doubt she's doing this for the money.

well, it's more like, she has $300 Million now, but her compensation going forward now, win or lose, will probably dwarf that of staying put at Google and personal portfolio growth for the next few years. She's not doing it for the money, but her personal wealth only stands a huge boost.

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

#333

Post by crotalo » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 3:25 PM UTC

I would tap that too.

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

#334

Post by msantos » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 3:28 PM UTC

wcdolphin wrote: post #204

$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.

Google would only acquire Yahoo, should Yahoo be just about to disappear - if that's even possible - or if it was going down fast. Only than it would justify to take over the patents and staff at a fair price, without paying extra for the "junk" which is supposedly sinking.

However, on the other hand Facebook would do just fine if they acquire Yahoo. As soon as Facebook's stocks get more stable and the fuss settles, I'm guessing Dec/2012 to Feb/2013, Facebook's shares will be going for a "very fair" USD15 ~ USD21. But if they launch their mobile device in that period, then I guess their shares will rock on USD25 ~ USD31 Anyways, considering the mobile device is not arriving before Q2 2013, then without growth and new features and afraid of new comers, the board will realise than they need content and loads of patents if they are to take on Google's array of products. And Yahoo will fit Facebook just like a glove.

However, Microsoft fearing for it's lack of social presence and weak search-engine, will possibly start a bidding war. Cutting the story short, I'd bet Facebook takes over if not completely, at least a good chunk of Yahoo, by the end of 2013.

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

#335

Post by 3143 » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 3:36 PM UTC

itsprofitbaron wrote: post #157

gdilla wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And if she crashes and burns, she gets what, 50million in an exit package? Why not take that.

Marissa was an early employee at Google, she was employee 20 there and Google's first female hire - she's worth ~$300 Million, I doubt she's doing this for the money.

That doesn't mean anything other than she was Larry Page's girlfriend at the time.

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

#336

Post by entropy_ » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 3:58 PM UTC

TylerE wrote: post #320

entropy_ wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, only the Lamborghini is a luxury car(unless you consider all cars a luxury but that would be a different discussion). Otherwise, I fully agree with your point. I like cars and had no clue what, exactly, the Pontiac Fiero or the Chevy 350 were as I'm not American and those are American cars. Around here German(Mercedes, BMW, Audi, VW) and Japanese(Mazda, Subary, Toyota, ...) cars are much much more common.

Fiero: Pontiac's great experiment at making a European style sports car. A real _proper_ sports car: Mid-engined, rear wheel drive. Except, because most most of the parts were from other GM vehicles, it was mostly shite. Still - very popular with kit car/replicar builders because they made quite a few of them (~350,000) and they're cheap as donor cars. Chevy 350: Basically a commodity engine. 5.7L pushrod V-8. Used i…

I've always found it weird how different engine sizes are in American cars as opposed to everything else.

Unless you were going for a race car or something it's quite uncommon to have a 5.7L engine in anything but an American car.

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

#337

Post by tomkarlo » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 4:08 PM UTC

MartinCron wrote: post #256

tomkarlo wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not childish, it's just being responsible. This is generally done for any employee with access to highly sensitive data. They're not going to do any more work for you; why take any risk that they'll do anything damaging after the moment when they tell you they're leaving? Also, once they've resigned, they're no longer an employee, so for a lot of companies (Google included) they may not be allowed in the sensiti…

It's "responsible" to treat people like potential criminals in lots of contexts. Doesn't mean it isn't a shitty thing to do.

Asking a non-employee to leave the premises of a business isn't treating them like a "potential criminal". If you find a random visitor wandering around your office, you may ask them to leave. It's not a "shitty" thing to do as long as it's done politely.

Let's keep in mind this is also someone who is leaving voluntarily, not being laid off. They are picking their moment when they become a non-employee.

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

#338

Post by tomkarlo » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 4:11 PM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #260

tomkarlo wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not childish, it's just being responsible. This is generally done for any employee with access to highly sensitive data. They're not going to do any more work for you; why take any risk that they'll do anything damaging after the moment when they tell you they're leaving? Also, once they've resigned, they're no longer an employee, so for a lot of companies (Google included) they may not be allowed in the sensiti…

It seems a lot like closing the barn door after the horses have left. If they were going to do anything damaging, why wouldn't they do it after they've decided they're leaving but before they tell you they're leaving? After all, they control when they tell you. I think that particular practice is security theater - it's so the employer can say "We take all possible precautions", regardless of whether the possible pre…

There's been a real state change. The individual has gone from an employee - with contractual obligations to the employer in terms of intellectual property, etc. - to a non-employee who may not have those same obligations. There are also issues of liability and safety - as a non-employee, they may no longer be covered by your insurance, depending on the type of workplace.

Is it mostly for form? Probably, but there's a reason it's considered the right process. It's not done for "theater", it's done because sometimes these things end up in court later on.

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

#339

Post by josephlord » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 4:24 PM UTC

wcdolphin wrote: post #204

$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.

Don't see it. Would bring antitrust investigations and general regulatory nightmare.

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

#340

Post by the_researcher » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 4:57 PM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #264

the_researcher wrote: post #146

If I'm not mistaken she has been in charge of Google Local for a while. This is an awful, awful product. Buggy as hell, ugly, and absolutely no inspiration or cleverness anywhere to be found. If that product was truly her responsibility, God help Yahoo.

She was in charge of Geo, which is a broad product area that includes Maps, Earth, Local, Street View, Maps for Mobile, Zagat, etc. Local may suck, but most people think Maps is pretty good.

Maps was great when she took over. Local was very important because the push was to get all businesses using Google Local (this is why they promoted it to the top of all search results, etc, and why they tried to buy Yelp).

Despite the obvious value to them, the product was and remains very poor.