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Yahoo Announces Resignation of Jerry Yang

businesswire.com

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Re: Yahoo Announces Resignation of Jerry Yang

#71

Post by PakG1 »

demallien wrote: post #61
schraeds wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Swat Teams" of vetted talent to handle the most prized assets and initiatives. Let the cruft keep up day to day, apply proven talent to the most important initiatives piece by piece. ie. Apple and the iMac, then iPod, iBook, iWorks, Final Cut etc etc.

I actually work in exactly this type of swat team. We were all hired at well above standard payrates at my large company to build the next generation product. The response from the existing teams was immediate - they saw us as a threat, and started doing everything they could to make our project fail. In the end they succeeded in gimping the product by simply giving us interfaces that just couldn't do what a good pro…

This is why such swat teams need to be hidden or actively shielded. Motorola's Droid team was completely separate and able to stand on its own feet. The Google Wave team was based in Australia and had its own incentives and structure. Obviously, swat teams are hit and miss like any startup; they're essentially startups within a corporation.

Or you need to be actively shielded. I was part of such a swat team for internal tools in my first job out of university. The IT department did everything possible to kill us, get us fired, etc. We needed support from the CEO down to stay alive. In the days before I came on board, our managers and directors would disguise the team, telling other people, "Ah, they're just business analysts working on miscellaneous stuff. Not important. Ignore them."

Re: Yahoo Announces Resignation of Jerry Yang

#72

Post by 3am »

robotresearcher wrote: post #55
3am wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically, a CEO doesn't have fiduciary duties. The board of directors does, and the CEO runs the company/reports to the board. I know what you mean, of course.

Interesting, thanks for the correction. Do you know if this varies by jurisdiction, or is it pretty much universal?

You know what, beatle is right, I'm wrong. Not sure when or how I developed the misconception, but I'm sorry for speaking outside my area of expertise and blowing it.

Re: Yahoo Announces Resignation of Jerry Yang

#74

Post by linuxhansl »

microarchitect wrote: post #56
dr_ wrote: post #42

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I don't think "fixing" Yahoo ought to be as difficult as people make it seem. It's still a well regarded brand, and many millions rely on it for email and as a homepage. It's finance section remains extremely popular. They purchased Sportacular, the app I use to keep track of games. Theyve just been very poorly managed. They acquired companies like delicious and Flickr, one they le…

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I don't think "fixing" Yahoo ought to be as difficult as people make it seem. I worked for a semi-dysfunctional semiconductor company and so I think I have some perspective on what it takes to "fix" a company like Yahoo. I think the biggest reason a company becomes like Yahoo has less to do with senior management and more to do with the fact that the company is filled with low to m…

Yep that sounds about right. The other problem is that these "low to mediocre quality middle managers and employees" do not realize that they are "low to mediocre quality".

Re: Yahoo Announces Resignation of Jerry Yang

#75

Post by demallien »

xxpor wrote: post #62
demallien wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually work in exactly this type of swat team. We were all hired at well above standard payrates at my large company to build the next generation product. The response from the existing teams was immediate - they saw us as a threat, and started doing everything they could to make our project fail. In the end they succeeded in gimping the product by simply giving us interfaces that just couldn't do what a good pro…

Why didn't they give you the power to demand things from other teams, lest they be fired?

Well, there are several reasons. One is that this is France, and firing people is just more hassle than it is worth. Th second, and more generally applicable reason, is that that would involve changing the status quo. If changing the status quo was that easy, you wouldn't need a SWAT team...

Re: Yahoo Announces Resignation of Jerry Yang

#76

Post by teyc »

fleitz wrote: post #68
teyc wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anybody else get what fleitz was trying to say here? The nice thing about no one knowing who you are is that 22 year old college geeks don't get the idea to 'disrupt' your industry and instead focus on 'disrupting' a more well known brand like Facebook.

What I'm saying is that you can easily get yourself into the 1% with out having to make a huge name for yourself and if you want to get REALLY rich it's also possible to do without huge branding. Although YHOO and MSFT in the tech press are 'dying' businesses in the 'real world' they are hugely profitable. If you build yourself a business that puts you into the 1% with out making a huge name for yourself you're less…

I understand the point you are bringing up. However, there's one thing about tech companies is that their cashflow can only be sustained if their position were defensible. RIM and Nokia demonstrate how quickly a stellar business can fall into the precipice. In terms of business lifecycle, Yahoo is effectively a cash cow. http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_bcgmatrix.html It may generate a lot of profit, but it is in a business that isn't growing its market share, and risks not replacing its lost audience.

Re: Yahoo Announces Resignation of Jerry Yang

#78

Post by ballard »

kingofspain wrote: post #6

Yahoo is usually talked about as if it's a joke or a failure. According to a cursory check (ahoy - I'm no finance king so I could be reading this wrong) it's worth $19 billion . If I could fail half as well, I'd be pretty happy. Honest question: Am I missing something really obvious? Is Yahoo really falling apart (slowly I guess as the same has been said for the past decade)? Or is it a case of not fulfilling potenti…

Disclaimer: I've interviewed there and turned down a few positions in different departments and I know current/former staff.

Anyone in the know knows that Yahoo! pays ridiculous rates (more than Google), but most of its departments can no longer bribe top talent into staying in a shop rife with dysfunction.

Re: Yahoo Announces Resignation of Jerry Yang

#79

Post by ichattopadhyaya »

PakG1 wrote: post #71
demallien wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually work in exactly this type of swat team. We were all hired at well above standard payrates at my large company to build the next generation product. The response from the existing teams was immediate - they saw us as a threat, and started doing everything they could to make our project fail. In the end they succeeded in gimping the product by simply giving us interfaces that just couldn't do what a good pro…

This is why such swat teams need to be hidden or actively shielded. Motorola's Droid team was completely separate and able to stand on its own feet. The Google Wave team was based in Australia and had its own incentives and structure. Obviously, swat teams are hit and miss like any startup; they're essentially startups within a corporation. Or you need to be actively shielded. I was part of such a swat team for inter…

I know why Flickr is doing so well. It is shielded and isolated from the rest of its parent organization.

Re: Yahoo Announces Resignation of Jerry Yang

#80

Post by gcb »

barredo wrote: post #2

Wonder if Yahoo! will get real shitty. Then, 10 years from now, Yang will come back, save the company and make it the most tech profitable company ever. Better buy some stock. :-)

not that far fetched. think you being mostly downvoted for language and emoticon.

this is a /. comment about the case, mentioning jobs "resigned after 9 years. Sold all his stock. Apple III had failed. Mac was fine, but the board wanted an "adult" in charge. Steve returned in 12 years"

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