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> I find it really strange that Mayer gets the blame for Yahoo’s decline. Not strange at all. That's literally what a CEO gets paid to do: to not be in decline

> I find it really strange that Mayer gets the blame for Yahoo’s decline. Not strange at all. That's literally what a CEO gets paid to do: to not be in decline. Microsoft was in decline when Satya took over too. It is no longer in decline. He knows how to do the job, and he is doing it.

dpark 5y ago
The previous CEOs were also paid to do that job, so yes, it’s extremely strange when people point to Mayer as the problem with Yahoo and not, say, Koogle or Semel, who presided over a decade of bad decisions. It’s like Mayer was brought in to manage a burning building and everyone acts like she’s incompetent because the fire department couldn’t save what was left. (P.S. Microsoft was not actually in decline under Ballmer by sane metrics. Microsoft revenue had been climbing consistently. Stock was flat for a very long time though.)
glenstein 5y ago
That's an ok eli5 explainer of what a CEO is, but the positions of Microsoft and Yahoo are not remotely analogous, and the blame of Marissa Meyer flies in the face of any kind of appropriate portionality or historical context. I guess the part where I agree with you is the implicit acknowledgment that blame is merely a function of the job title, and not in any way correlated with any rational analysis of whether those expectations are realistic or accurate reflections of causality.
- petilon 5y ago
  > blame is merely a function of the job title Marissa Meyer's name is indelibly linked to the Flickr fail. She promoted herself as a UX expert, then "improved" Flickr and ended up f??king it up. Excerpt from NYT story: “My focus at Google has been to deliver great end-user experiences, to delight and inspire our end users,” Ms. Mayer said in an interview. “That is what I plan to do at Yahoo, give the end user something valuable and delightful that makes them want to come to Yahoo every day.” https://www.wired.com/2013/04/flickr/ https://www.wired.com/2013/04/flickr/ https://gizmodo.com/flashback-how-yahoo-killed-flickr-and-lost-the-interne-508852335 https://gizmodo.com/flashback-how-yahoo-killed-flickr-and-lo... https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/technology/marissa-mayer-hopes-to-brighten-user-experience-at-yahoo.html https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/technology/marissa-mayer-...
  - dpark 5y ago
    Flickr had already failed before Mayer ever showed up at Yahoo. They pretty much ignored it after the purchase aside from forcing yahoo logins. Mayer’s failure with Flickr is the same as SmugMug’s: an inability to revive a dying product. At least she tried. But also Flickr was hardly the biggest problem at Yahoo.
    - petilon 5y ago
      > At least she tried. There are no participation trophies in business. This isn't kindergarten. Before spending shareholder's money on an expensive project she should have checked if it makes sense to spend money on it. If she made the wrong call she alone is responsible for the mistake. > They pretty much ignored it after the purchase aside from forcing yahoo logins. Not true. They fully revamped the user experience, and Marissa Mayer was actively involved in the project.
      - dpark 5y ago
        > There are no participation trophies in business. This isn't kindergarten. Thanks for the regurgitated platitudes. Your stern appraisal of CEOs is duly noted. > Before spending shareholder's money on an expensive project she should have checked if it makes sense to spend money on it. If she made the wrong call she alone is responsible for the mistake. On what basis do you assume Flickr’s revamp was an expensive project? I have no idea what it really cost, but to a multi-billion dollar company, I doubt it was really that much. Sure, she owns the failed revamp though. > Not true. They fully revamped the user experience, and Marissa Mayer was actively involved in the project. “They” referred to the company prior to Mayer becoming CEO. Yahoo owned Flickr for 7 years before Mayer took over. Flickr felt stagnant for most of that time. It’s really weird to be ratholing on Flickr as if it was the reason for Yahoo failing. If Mayer had ignored Flickr like the previous 2 CEOs, Yahoo would have failed just as surely and Flickr’s decline would have been just as rapid.
        petilon 5y ago
        > Sure, she owns the failed revamp though. Thank you! That's the most important point. > It’s really weird to be ratholing on Flickr as if it was the reason for Yahoo failing. Flickr is the topic of this thread. I don't think Flickr is the reason Yahoo failed, but I do think Marissa Mayer hastened Flickr's demise, and I do believe Ms Mayer's incompetence was the reason Yahoo couldn't be turned around. If you believe Ms Mayer was brought in to "manage a burning building" as opposed to turning it around, please read this story: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/magazine/what-happened-when-marissa-mayer-tried-to-be-steve-jobs.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/magazine/what-happened-wh...

dpark 5y ago

The previous CEOs were also paid to do that job, so yes, it’s extremely strange when people point to Mayer as the problem with Yahoo and not, say, Koogle or Semel, who presided over a decade of bad decisions. It’s like Mayer was brought in to manage a burning building and everyone acts like she’s incompetent because the fire department couldn’t save what was left. (P.S. Microsoft was not actually in decline under Ballmer by sane metrics. Microsoft revenue had been climbing consistently. Stock was flat for a very long time though.)

glenstein 5y ago

That's an ok eli5 explainer of what a CEO is, but the positions of Microsoft and Yahoo are not remotely analogous, and the blame of Marissa Meyer flies in the face of any kind of appropriate portionality or historical context. I guess the part where I agree with you is the implicit acknowledgment that blame is merely a function of the job title, and not in any way correlated with any rational analysis of whether those expectations are realistic or accurate reflections of causality.

petilon 5y ago
> blame is merely a function of the job title Marissa Meyer's name is indelibly linked to the Flickr fail. She promoted herself as a UX expert, then "improved" Flickr and ended up f??king it up. Excerpt from NYT story: “My focus at Google has been to deliver great end-user experiences, to delight and inspire our end users,” Ms. Mayer said in an interview. “That is what I plan to do at Yahoo, give the end user something valuable and delightful that makes them want to come to Yahoo every day.” https://www.wired.com/2013/04/flickr/ https://www.wired.com/2013/04/flickr/ https://gizmodo.com/flashback-how-yahoo-killed-flickr-and-lost-the-interne-508852335 https://gizmodo.com/flashback-how-yahoo-killed-flickr-and-lo... https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/technology/marissa-mayer-hopes-to-brighten-user-experience-at-yahoo.html https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/technology/marissa-mayer-...
- dpark 5y ago
  Flickr had already failed before Mayer ever showed up at Yahoo. They pretty much ignored it after the purchase aside from forcing yahoo logins. Mayer’s failure with Flickr is the same as SmugMug’s: an inability to revive a dying product. At least she tried. But also Flickr was hardly the biggest problem at Yahoo.
  - petilon 5y ago
    > At least she tried. There are no participation trophies in business. This isn't kindergarten. Before spending shareholder's money on an expensive project she should have checked if it makes sense to spend money on it. If she made the wrong call she alone is responsible for the mistake. > They pretty much ignored it after the purchase aside from forcing yahoo logins. Not true. They fully revamped the user experience, and Marissa Mayer was actively involved in the project.
    - dpark 5y ago
      > There are no participation trophies in business. This isn't kindergarten. Thanks for the regurgitated platitudes. Your stern appraisal of CEOs is duly noted. > Before spending shareholder's money on an expensive project she should have checked if it makes sense to spend money on it. If she made the wrong call she alone is responsible for the mistake. On what basis do you assume Flickr’s revamp was an expensive project? I have no idea what it really cost, but to a multi-billion dollar company, I doubt it was really that much. Sure, she owns the failed revamp though. > Not true. They fully revamped the user experience, and Marissa Mayer was actively involved in the project. “They” referred to the company prior to Mayer becoming CEO. Yahoo owned Flickr for 7 years before Mayer took over. Flickr felt stagnant for most of that time. It’s really weird to be ratholing on Flickr as if it was the reason for Yahoo failing. If Mayer had ignored Flickr like the previous 2 CEOs, Yahoo would have failed just as surely and Flickr’s decline would have been just as rapid.
      - petilon 5y ago
        > Sure, she owns the failed revamp though. Thank you! That's the most important point. > It’s really weird to be ratholing on Flickr as if it was the reason for Yahoo failing. Flickr is the topic of this thread. I don't think Flickr is the reason Yahoo failed, but I do think Marissa Mayer hastened Flickr's demise, and I do believe Ms Mayer's incompetence was the reason Yahoo couldn't be turned around. If you believe Ms Mayer was brought in to "manage a burning building" as opposed to turning it around, please read this story: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/magazine/what-happened-when-marissa-mayer-tried-to-be-steve-jobs.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/magazine/what-happened-wh...