My first question would be, as it has been for 12 years: "what is Yahoo supposed to be good at?". The failure to answer that has been Yahoo's biggest problem f

My first question would be, as it has been for 12 years: "what is Yahoo supposed to be good at?". The failure to answer that has been Yahoo's biggest problem for the entire last decade, and probably for most of the one before that. In fact, this was the first question I asked when the company I worked for was acquired by Yahoo and their management team came over to talk to us. The answer I got was a completely delusional "we take what others have invented and we do it better". I didn't score any brownie-points for pointing out that while the copying bit was true enough, the "improving" part was pure wishful thinking unconnected with any observable reality. I kept insisting on an answer, I never got one and eventually I quit and joined a competitor. I think the key question is not whether or not Marissa believes she can save the company. She might be delusional as well. The question is whether or not Marissa can articulate what Yahoo is supposed to be good at.