4 ms·

It's almost like there are more ways to make money than search. ;-) Bartz really wasn't there long enough to execute on a strategy, but her point was that the

It's almost like there are more ways to make money than search. ;-) Bartz really wasn't there long enough to execute on a strategy, but her point was that the opportunity cost of continuing to try to win the search engine wars was far greater than the likely value of the investment. At least from a historical perspective she was right. Alibaba, social media, mobile, games, content, etc. All of those spaces had lots of opportunity for the right moves.

andy_ppp 6y ago
Is 21 months not enough time to execute on a strategy?
- cbsmith 6y ago
  At such a large company? Not really. You can certainly start execution of a strategy, and she did, but it takes a long time to turn such a big boat and fully realize a strategic vision.
  - andy_ppp 6y ago
    If she was doing so well with this vision (mobile/games/social something) why did she only last 21 months? Which products did she launch?
    - cbsmith 6y ago
      I didn't suggest she was "doing so well with this vision". If anything, I was pointing out that it'd be hard to know if the company would be "doing well" with her vision, given the limited time window. It was a short stint, and my memory is dull, so I can't remember which products were launched under her watch, but that's the wrong measure in first place (indeed, this was the company from which the Peanut Butter Manifesto sprang). There's really not a lot of question about her changing a lot of things at the company though. I found this article talking about the impact she had after the first four months: https://www.reuters.com/article/stocksAndSharesNews/idUKLNE54400I20090505 https://www.reuters.com/article/stocksAndSharesNews/idUKLNE5...
Bukhmanizer 6y ago
> Bartz really wasn't there long enough to execute on a strategy, but her point was that the opportunity cost of continuing to try to win the search engine wars was far greater than the likely value of the investment. True, but don’t you kind of have to win at something to retain users? It’s just unclear to me where they wanted to invest the freed money.

andy_ppp 6y ago

Is 21 months not enough time to execute on a strategy?

cbsmith 6y ago
At such a large company? Not really. You can certainly start execution of a strategy, and she did, but it takes a long time to turn such a big boat and fully realize a strategic vision.
- andy_ppp 6y ago
  If she was doing so well with this vision (mobile/games/social something) why did she only last 21 months? Which products did she launch?
  - cbsmith 6y ago
    I didn't suggest she was "doing so well with this vision". If anything, I was pointing out that it'd be hard to know if the company would be "doing well" with her vision, given the limited time window. It was a short stint, and my memory is dull, so I can't remember which products were launched under her watch, but that's the wrong measure in first place (indeed, this was the company from which the Peanut Butter Manifesto sprang). There's really not a lot of question about her changing a lot of things at the company though. I found this article talking about the impact she had after the first four months: https://www.reuters.com/article/stocksAndSharesNews/idUKLNE54400I20090505 https://www.reuters.com/article/stocksAndSharesNews/idUKLNE5...

Bukhmanizer 6y ago

> Bartz really wasn't there long enough to execute on a strategy, but her point was that the opportunity cost of continuing to try to win the search engine wars was far greater than the likely value of the investment. True, but don’t you kind of have to win at something to retain users? It’s just unclear to me where they wanted to invest the freed money.