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Marissa Mayer on career growth and how a revenue guarantee almost killed Google

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Re: Marissa Mayer on career growth and how a revenue guarantee almost killed Google

#41

Post by lkrubner »

Harj wrote: post #2

Marissa described possibly the most thorough and analytical job search process I've heard from anyone, when she was talking about how she joined Google. I really liked her reflection on this in hindsight on how being overly analytical is dangerous and it's something I try to remind myself of when I'm in danger of overthinking a decision: "I think this is a common thing that very analytical people trip themselves up w…

Too much focus on utility functions, not enough focus on novelty functions, even though it's been proven that utility functions decline in usefulness as a search space expands. Given an infinite search space, a utility function can only find local optima, there is no global optima. In such situations, a novelty function that finds a path from one happy local optima to another happy local optima is a better bet than using a utility function.

The above paragraph is rational, and yet people who consider themselves hyper rational often ignore the truth of this. And the irony is that some of them do this for an emotional reason: they want the security that comes from believing that there is an absolute right answer. They are irrationally rational.

Re: Marissa Mayer on career growth and how a revenue guarantee almost killed Google

#42

Post by hitekker »

lkrubner wrote: post #41
Harj wrote: post #2

Marissa described possibly the most thorough and analytical job search process I've heard from anyone, when she was talking about how she joined Google. I really liked her reflection on this in hindsight on how being overly analytical is dangerous and it's something I try to remind myself of when I'm in danger of overthinking a decision: "I think this is a common thing that very analytical people trip themselves up w…

Too much focus on utility functions, not enough focus on novelty functions, even though it's been proven that utility functions decline in usefulness as a search space expands. Given an infinite search space, a utility function can only find local optima, there is no global optima. In such situations, a novelty function that finds a path from one happy local optima to another happy local optima is a better bet than u…

What an interesting perspective with a great paradoxical conclusion.

Well done.

Re: Marissa Mayer on career growth and how a revenue guarantee almost killed Google

#43

Post by hangonhn »

cududa wrote: post #32
hnzix wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what Yahoo would look like now if Jerry had accepted the Microsoft acquisition. Yahoo was already in troubled waters at the time, in hindsight it looks like a missed opportunity.

Probably completely non-existent and shut down. Both Ballmer and Gates have commented that it would’ve been a monumental mistake

But that's part of doing business. The shareholders and employees (many of whom are also shareholders) might be in a lot better shape had the deal gone through. I'm skeptical that those people are better off with the Verizon deal.

Re: Marissa Mayer on career growth and how a revenue guarantee almost killed Google

#44

Post by rrdharan »

rajeshp1986 wrote: post #10

"I realized that, while I had a very deep understanding of artificial intelligence, I did not yet have some of the basics down. I knew how a database worked. I knew how an operating system worked. I knew how a compiler worked. But I hadn't taken classes on those topics, so I went back for my master's and took the rest of the AI offerings as well as a lot of programming basics. That way, I could actually go and market…

She majored in Symbolic Systems as an undergrad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolic_Systems

As I understand it, foundational CS classes are not a requirement for that degree. Although I do know people who majored in Symbolic Systems and completed such courses in undergrad, I assume they were electives rather than requirements.

Re: Marissa Mayer on career growth and how a revenue guarantee almost killed Google

#45

Post by charlesdm »

kaikai wrote: post #25
node-bayarea wrote: post #9

She ruined Yahoo! Made stupid acquisitions like Tumblr and shit.

Check out the term "glass cliff," if you want an explanation of why some folks perceive her as a failure despite her successes.

Let's just call a spade a spade. She was put in place by activist investors who wanted to make a quick buck on the significant Alibaba stake that was held by Yahoo. The goal was never to save Yahoo.

Said activists made a good return and sold their stake, and Mayer pretty much ran the company in the ground while being compensated well for it. Nothing wrong with that in a capitalist world, however, that's all it is.

Anyone with half a brain could have done that, myself included.

Re: Marissa Mayer on career growth and how a revenue guarantee almost killed Google

#46

Post by NelsonMinar »

I was also at Google when the AOL deal was signed and remember the decision and outcome quite differently. It was definitely a high risk deal, deliberately so, but in no way was it only "the best-case scenario had us breaking even". Nor was it the case that "all of our models were wrong". The product manager in charge of ads at the time had a clear understanding of exactly how the deal could be hugely profitable for Google because of the value of extra advertisers attracted to the Google platform thanks to the added AOL inventory. It was by no means a sure thing, but it was a likely outcome. Fortunately the decision makers believed him, they took the risk, and it paid off enormously.

Re: Marissa Mayer on career growth and how a revenue guarantee almost killed Google

#47

Post by tlb »

lkrubner wrote: post #41
Harj wrote: post #2

Marissa described possibly the most thorough and analytical job search process I've heard from anyone, when she was talking about how she joined Google. I really liked her reflection on this in hindsight on how being overly analytical is dangerous and it's something I try to remind myself of when I'm in danger of overthinking a decision: "I think this is a common thing that very analytical people trip themselves up w…

Too much focus on utility functions, not enough focus on novelty functions, even though it's been proven that utility functions decline in usefulness as a search space expands. Given an infinite search space, a utility function can only find local optima, there is no global optima. In such situations, a novelty function that finds a path from one happy local optima to another happy local optima is a better bet than u…

How would you prove that?

Here's a simple counterexample to what I understand your theorem to say: consider an infinite search space: 𝕽∞ and a utility function: 1-|x|. There's a single global optimum at (0, ...), and the gradient of the utility function would find it quickly.

Re: Marissa Mayer on career growth and how a revenue guarantee almost killed Google

#48

Post by hnaccy »

lkrubner wrote: post #41
Harj wrote: post #2

Marissa described possibly the most thorough and analytical job search process I've heard from anyone, when she was talking about how she joined Google. I really liked her reflection on this in hindsight on how being overly analytical is dangerous and it's something I try to remind myself of when I'm in danger of overthinking a decision: "I think this is a common thing that very analytical people trip themselves up w…

Too much focus on utility functions, not enough focus on novelty functions, even though it's been proven that utility functions decline in usefulness as a search space expands. Given an infinite search space, a utility function can only find local optima, there is no global optima. In such situations, a novelty function that finds a path from one happy local optima to another happy local optima is a better bet than u…

This feels like an opinion on how to live life dressed up in mathematical language.

Re: Marissa Mayer on career growth and how a revenue guarantee almost killed Google

#49

Post by 4thaccount »

batty_alex wrote: post #33
4thaccount wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is a rare thing to do. I've done it and so have co-workers. A simple pro/con chart is really all you need.

Sorry to weigh in this way, but yes it's a rare thing to do. Most people don't have multiple offers sitting on the table. It's a privilege. It's rare, that's all.

I'm referring to comparing your existing job to a new one. Everyone does this and it can't be rare.

You have to look at quality of work, work life balance, the area, commute time, cost of living, salary, 401k match, benefits, chance of advancement, company culture, job safety, bonus amount, job security...etc. For a lot of people the choice is a no-brainer, but there are comparable and even worse jobs out there.

I apologise for the seemingly privledged attitude, but I'm assuming most on HN are Software Developers, Engineers, Mathematicians, and Scientists which generally have options and change jobs on occasion. Every single person who changed has done a pro/con comparison. Even if it was a no-brainier, the comparison would've taken place subconsciously.

Re: Marissa Mayer on career growth and how a revenue guarantee almost killed Google

#50

Post by ProAm »

kaikai wrote: post #25
node-bayarea wrote: post #9

She ruined Yahoo! Made stupid acquisitions like Tumblr and shit.

Check out the term "glass cliff," if you want an explanation of why some folks perceive her as a failure despite her successes.

> despite her successes

Only going by what I've read she was never extremely successful at Google, only hired early and managed to stay, but never incredibly impactful. Honest question because I likely only know half the story what are her real successes at Google?

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