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

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

#211

Post by wavephorm » Mon, Jul 16, 2012, 11:49 PM UTC

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…

I am very curious what goes in those Board of Directors meetings.

Does everyone just sit around asking eachother "What the fuck does this company do, and how are we still in business?"

Seriously, what does Yahoo do? I don't know, because I haven't been their website since the 1990's. They obviously don't make software or hardware products, because I don't own any and have never paid for any of their products. I have no use for whatever services they might offer because I've never heard of anyone praising or recommending their services. I honestly would like to know how Yahoo still exists.

I think Marissa Mayer has a much harder task in front of her than she might think. Yahoo really doesn't do anything, or have products. How is she going to improve that which does not exist?

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

#212

Post by wilfra » Mon, Jul 16, 2012, 11:49 PM UTC

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…

Apple derives more than 80% of their revenue (and probably 90%+ of their market cap) from product categories that didn't even exist in 1999.

Yahoo needs to reinvent itself. They have a $19 billion market cap, billions in revenue, a brand with household name recognition all over the World and tens of thousands of employees to do it. It can certainly be done. I don't know that Mayer will do it or that it will ever be done with Yahoo - but to look at their current sources of income and define that as their future is shortsighted. Unfortunately, thats exactly how their investors look at it and it's a big part of the reason why they are in this mess in the first place.

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

#213

Post by tjmc » Mon, Jul 16, 2012, 11:53 PM UTC

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…

Not a good comparison. Meyer famously tested 41 shades of blue on Gmail. Optimising local maxima is hardly innovation. Jobs was more of the Henry Ford mindset that if he asked people what they wanted they'd ask for a faster horse.

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

#214

Post by roopeshv » Mon, Jul 16, 2012, 11:53 PM UTC

dmpk2k wrote: post #196

feronull wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

he would fork a Node.js and made Ynode :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HzclYKz4yQ&feature=playe... ~22:40

Why?

see the video for the answer

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

#215

Post by neilk » Mon, Jul 16, 2012, 11:57 PM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #169

JPKab wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is typical Yahoo bullshit. They hire a CEO not for the primary reason of effectiveness or experience, but instead for their perception of effectiveness in the media. Is she an improvement over Bartz? No doubt, because the first time I saw Bartz discussing Yahoo's future several years ago, it was immediately clear to me that they weren't getting out of their tailspin. Is Mayer a genius? I'm sure of it. But from a…

Eh, I like Marissa, and I've worked on projects (the 2010 websearch visual redesign, and doodles) for which she was the executive sponsor. No, she's not a nice person, and most likely she does not give a shit about you as a person. But she is very often right about her design opinions, and when she's not, she'll listen to data. I don't think Yahoo particularly needs a nice person as CEO right now. Their culture is dy…

I've worked at both Yahoo and Google. I've never worked with Marissa directly but I think your opinion of her is pretty much correct.

The biggest risk I see is that there is a huge difference in her role. At Google she stood atop a pyramid of other geniuses, with similar backgrounds and values, and was a filter for their ideas. At Yahoo she's dealing with a culture where engineering is not the highest value, and she's going to have to get off the top perch and descend into the ranks, clearing out the enemies of progress which exist at every level.

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

#216

Post by wyclif » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 12:02 AM UTC

drtse4 wrote: post #69

hv23 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious; care to elaborate from an insider's perspective? What about their cultures make this situation hilarious, and how come you're convinced that Mayer won't make a difference?

Not knowing much about Mayer and reading some comments here i have the opposite question, why Mayer should be able to make a difference?

The biggest factor is not Mayer herself, but again the "wrestling with a pig" factor mentioned in an excellent observation above. Yahoo! is not a sexy company.

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

#217

Post by j45 » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 12:05 AM UTC

While I don't care much for Yahoo or any brand, I love seeing someone who seems to have been over looked for a long time get a chance, albeit with a less than ideal situation but that's half the fun -- doing what others say can't be done.

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

#218

Post by pessimizer » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 12:14 AM UTC

tjmc wrote: post #207

azylman wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Nokia was stagnating before Elop, not sinking.

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

#219

Post by unavoidable » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 12:22 AM UTC

wavephorm wrote: post #211

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…

I am very curious what goes in those Board of Directors meetings. Does everyone just sit around asking eachother "What the fuck does this company do, and how are we still in business?" Seriously, what does Yahoo do? I don't know, because I haven't been their website since the 1990's. They obviously don't make software or hardware products, because I don't own any and have never paid for any of their products. I have…

Yahoo has some good niche products that are doing relatively well compared to the rest of the company (fantasy sports is one, Flickr is another). To survive they probably need to do more of those and figure out how to specialize and monetize the products that aren't stagnating.

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

#220

Post by rhizome » Tue, Jul 17, 2012, 12:22 AM UTC

tomkarlo wrote: post #181

rhizome wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You overestimate the downside of a reputation hit. The business world loves failures, and in fact it promotes them as people experienced with problems.

One of the biggest things she's going to probably have to do is lay off thousands of people. The business world might love that, but the folks losing their jobs probably won't. Turnaround CEOs take a lot of flak.

Folks losing their jobs don't hire the CEOs. :/