5 ms·

Yahoo Appoints Scott Thompson CEO

49 points by privacyguru 15y ago

basseq 15y ago
PayPal is an entrenched player whose largest market also happens to be its parent company. Their customer service is terrible, they've been vilified in the press, and I can't say they're known for innovation, technical or otherwise. Not who I'd want running a floundering tech giant.
Mystalic 15y ago
I've met and interviewed Scott several times over the course of my career. He is the anti-Carol Bartz. He is extremely likeable, approachable. He's a consensus-builder, not a bomb thrower. And he did double PayPal's user base and revenue to 100+ million and $4+ billion respectively. Yahooers will like this guy. He's sharp. He's the right man for the job.
- tlack 15y ago
  That's great news. Yahoo deserves better than the shitty luck they've had lately with their leadership. But critically, does he have any experience on the media and publishing end of things? Selling impressions is a lot different than what he was doing at Paypal.
- xal 15y ago
  He is one of the nicest people in the valley, unbelievably passionate and aware. He used to be the CTO so he is also a strong technical person. It's a great fit.
- steve8918 15y ago
  I have no opinions either way on Scott Thompson. But a "consensus-builder" is not something that Yahoo needs right now. They are in deep trouble, and they need someone that is willing to drag them, kicking-and-screaming if need be, into a better position. This requires vision and balls, and the willingness to gut the layers and layers of middle management that diluted every single good idea Yahoo had. They also need to completely eradicate the board they have at Yahoo and get some real tech people, not fat cats with no vision, suckling off the teats of Yahoo shareholders. I liked Carol Bartz because they needed someone to cut through the BS within Yahoo, but unfortunately she just wasn't right in her vision. I personally would have given her another couple more years.
  - schraeds 15y ago
    After slashing R&D and giving Microsoft the keys to the kingdom (search) you want to give her more time to gut Yahoo? No way. And I don't take being a consensus builder means lacking vision, it means you get the team on board as opposed to charging ahead regardless of what people think. A consensus builder sells their team on the vision, then executes.
  - samstave 15y ago
    >I personally would have given her another couple more years. Wait, you state that Yahoo needs someone with vision and balls, then you say you'd have given CB a couple more years right after saying her vision was no right??? Nobody is addressing the real issue: Yahoo needs to build something innovative that people want to use, not just mee-too services. I agree with what you say about the board. Look at Google, Apple and too a certain degree even facebook, you have very very technical/visionary leaders -- Yahoo seems to be trying to solve a technical abyss with traditional business strategies.
simplekoala 15y ago
For the sake of internet, valley and Yahoo! - I hope he succeeds big time. Yahoos deserve much better than a foul-mouthed, talentless and outdated CEO they ousted. I hope he lives up to the promise!
bionicbrian 15y ago
As a Yahoo! employee I am stoked that a nerd (former CTO) is taking the gig. We'll wait to see how he does, but looks good to me.
parfe 15y ago
“Scott’s primary focus will be on the core business" That's good (even though I don't know that business that refers to) because they botched the entire mobile entry. http://m.yahoo.com/w/frontdoors/ http://m.yahoo.com/w/frontdoors/ provides a decent mobile experience. So they developed their own android app, which only acts as a branded web browser for the above URL. The only "features" the app seems to add are Posting to facebook (not a yahoo! property!) and Sharing a url via the standard email/message/text/etc. The mobile site looks well designed and easy to navigate, but cuts essential features to get there. * For instance, Sports team by conference, but you can't see records or standings http://m.yahoo.com/w/sports/ncaaf/teams/ncaaf.i-a.2?.ts=1325691714&.intl=us&.lang=en http://m.yahoo.com/w/sports/ncaaf/teams/ncaaf.i-a.2?.ts=1325... Guess I'm going to ESPN * The mobile calendar has no month view and requires a 3 drop down date widget to navigate beyond next/prev week. Can't see which weeks in February I'm free for vacation without navigating through each week. Guess I'm sticking with google calendar's native app. * Yahoo Games has a huge offering and user base and nearly every game should be playable on a phone, but I can't play Yahoo chess. Why not? Too busy cloning youtube and myspace I assume. * http://m.yahoo.com/w/movies?.intl=us&.lang=en http://m.yahoo.com/w/movies?.intl=us&.lang=en Check out the mobile movie page. An incredibly useful feature! And it includes reviews! Go ahead and click reviews for a movie to see what yahoo users think. Wait.. brings you to the movie page. Ok, click reviews again... oh wait it isn't a link. How do I read user reviews on my phone? Guess I'm going to another site for that content. Simple stuff that just screams "We aren't using our own products!" I don't for a second believe Yahoo uses their own calendaring system for work. Tons of stupid broken features they should clean up, but it seems no one cares to pay attention. Yahoo has tons of content but they refuse to deliver it. The above issues aren't really that bad, but I have options so I will gladly go to a provider who delivers a better experience. Meanwhile, running paypal should not count as a positive credential. Perhaps if yahoo swears fealty to ebay then they too can benefit the same way paypal has.
ahi 15y ago
I choked on my coffee when I saw the headline. Not the Scott Thompson from Kids in the Hall. Though that would be an inspired choice as well, and just as likely to save Yahoo.
johnnygoods 15y ago
PayPal has survived by having an early lead in a business with high barriers to entry, despite having abused their users and customers at every turn. The guy who oversaw that would not be my #1 pick to lead a flagging consumer internet company.
sjs382 15y ago
“Scott’s primary focus will be on the core business" I'm curious what he'll define as the core business...
tribeofone 15y ago
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), the premier digital media company... Who writes these PR releases? Some humility should be in order here.. Yahoo Appoints Scott Thompson CEO [FIXED] Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), the premier digital media company from April 1999 to February 2000 is desperately trying to become relevant again after a series of incomprehensible blunders. We are very hopeful that with the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive we will finally get things turned around because, quite frankly, the next stop for us is being Gecko'd - bought out for pennies on the dollar, broken apart and sold off to the highest bidders at auction.
- ChuckMcM 15y ago
  Its funny that you mention that, I talked with someone who kept referring to Yahoo as the 'premier digital media company' and I finally stopped them and said, "What exactly do you mean when you say that?" I was curious because I could not think of any interpretation where that statement made sense. When I hear the phrase I might think "Apple" or iTunes/iPod or "Amazon" for e-books, but on a multiple choice question "Which of the following companies is the premier digital media company?", Yahoo! would have been the first company I would mark off as not being it. That being said, perhaps it helps frame the challenge for Scott, which is to help Yahoo! regain its corporate identity.
rmason 15y ago
I agree with Jason Calcanis that Yahoo needed a product oriented CEO, not just another financial guy. They need someone who groks products and can make acquisitions to grow the audience. You want the operations guy to be the number two, not the CEO.

49 points by privacyguru 15y ago

PayPal is an entrenched player whose largest market also happens to be its parent company. Their customer service is terrible, they've been vilified in the press, and I can't say they're known for innovation, technical or otherwise. Not who I'd want running a floundering tech giant.

Mystalic 15y ago

I've met and interviewed Scott several times over the course of my career. He is the anti-Carol Bartz. He is extremely likeable, approachable. He's a consensus-builder, not a bomb thrower. And he did double PayPal's user base and revenue to 100+ million and $4+ billion respectively. Yahooers will like this guy. He's sharp. He's the right man for the job.

tlack 15y ago
That's great news. Yahoo deserves better than the shitty luck they've had lately with their leadership. But critically, does he have any experience on the media and publishing end of things? Selling impressions is a lot different than what he was doing at Paypal.
xal 15y ago
He is one of the nicest people in the valley, unbelievably passionate and aware. He used to be the CTO so he is also a strong technical person. It's a great fit.
steve8918 15y ago
I have no opinions either way on Scott Thompson. But a "consensus-builder" is not something that Yahoo needs right now. They are in deep trouble, and they need someone that is willing to drag them, kicking-and-screaming if need be, into a better position. This requires vision and balls, and the willingness to gut the layers and layers of middle management that diluted every single good idea Yahoo had. They also need to completely eradicate the board they have at Yahoo and get some real tech people, not fat cats with no vision, suckling off the teats of Yahoo shareholders. I liked Carol Bartz because they needed someone to cut through the BS within Yahoo, but unfortunately she just wasn't right in her vision. I personally would have given her another couple more years.
- schraeds 15y ago
  After slashing R&D and giving Microsoft the keys to the kingdom (search) you want to give her more time to gut Yahoo? No way. And I don't take being a consensus builder means lacking vision, it means you get the team on board as opposed to charging ahead regardless of what people think. A consensus builder sells their team on the vision, then executes.
- samstave 15y ago
  >I personally would have given her another couple more years. Wait, you state that Yahoo needs someone with vision and balls, then you say you'd have given CB a couple more years right after saying her vision was no right??? Nobody is addressing the real issue: Yahoo needs to build something innovative that people want to use, not just mee-too services. I agree with what you say about the board. Look at Google, Apple and too a certain degree even facebook, you have very very technical/visionary leaders -- Yahoo seems to be trying to solve a technical abyss with traditional business strategies.

simplekoala 15y ago

For the sake of internet, valley and Yahoo! - I hope he succeeds big time. Yahoos deserve much better than a foul-mouthed, talentless and outdated CEO they ousted. I hope he lives up to the promise!

bionicbrian 15y ago

As a Yahoo! employee I am stoked that a nerd (former CTO) is taking the gig. We'll wait to see how he does, but looks good to me.

parfe 15y ago

“Scott’s primary focus will be on the core business" That's good (even though I don't know that business that refers to) because they botched the entire mobile entry. http://m.yahoo.com/w/frontdoors/ http://m.yahoo.com/w/frontdoors/ provides a decent mobile experience. So they developed their own android app, which only acts as a branded web browser for the above URL. The only "features" the app seems to add are Posting to facebook (not a yahoo! property!) and Sharing a url via the standard email/message/text/etc. The mobile site looks well designed and easy to navigate, but cuts essential features to get there. * For instance, Sports team by conference, but you can't see records or standings http://m.yahoo.com/w/sports/ncaaf/teams/ncaaf.i-a.2?.ts=1325691714&.intl=us&.lang=en http://m.yahoo.com/w/sports/ncaaf/teams/ncaaf.i-a.2?.ts=1325... Guess I'm going to ESPN * The mobile calendar has no month view and requires a 3 drop down date widget to navigate beyond next/prev week. Can't see which weeks in February I'm free for vacation without navigating through each week. Guess I'm sticking with google calendar's native app. * Yahoo Games has a huge offering and user base and nearly every game should be playable on a phone, but I can't play Yahoo chess. Why not? Too busy cloning youtube and myspace I assume. * http://m.yahoo.com/w/movies?.intl=us&.lang=en http://m.yahoo.com/w/movies?.intl=us&.lang=en Check out the mobile movie page. An incredibly useful feature! And it includes reviews! Go ahead and click reviews for a movie to see what yahoo users think. Wait.. brings you to the movie page. Ok, click reviews again... oh wait it isn't a link. How do I read user reviews on my phone? Guess I'm going to another site for that content. Simple stuff that just screams "We aren't using our own products!" I don't for a second believe Yahoo uses their own calendaring system for work. Tons of stupid broken features they should clean up, but it seems no one cares to pay attention. Yahoo has tons of content but they refuse to deliver it. The above issues aren't really that bad, but I have options so I will gladly go to a provider who delivers a better experience. Meanwhile, running paypal should not count as a positive credential. Perhaps if yahoo swears fealty to ebay then they too can benefit the same way paypal has.

ahi 15y ago

I choked on my coffee when I saw the headline. Not the Scott Thompson from Kids in the Hall. Though that would be an inspired choice as well, and just as likely to save Yahoo.

johnnygoods 15y ago

PayPal has survived by having an early lead in a business with high barriers to entry, despite having abused their users and customers at every turn. The guy who oversaw that would not be my #1 pick to lead a flagging consumer internet company.

sjs382 15y ago

“Scott’s primary focus will be on the core business" I'm curious what he'll define as the core business...

tribeofone 15y ago

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), the premier digital media company... Who writes these PR releases? Some humility should be in order here.. Yahoo Appoints Scott Thompson CEO [FIXED] Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), the premier digital media company from April 1999 to February 2000 is desperately trying to become relevant again after a series of incomprehensible blunders. We are very hopeful that with the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive we will finally get things turned around because, quite frankly, the next stop for us is being Gecko'd - bought out for pennies on the dollar, broken apart and sold off to the highest bidders at auction.

ChuckMcM 15y ago
Its funny that you mention that, I talked with someone who kept referring to Yahoo as the 'premier digital media company' and I finally stopped them and said, "What exactly do you mean when you say that?" I was curious because I could not think of any interpretation where that statement made sense. When I hear the phrase I might think "Apple" or iTunes/iPod or "Amazon" for e-books, but on a multiple choice question "Which of the following companies is the premier digital media company?", Yahoo! would have been the first company I would mark off as not being it. That being said, perhaps it helps frame the challenge for Scott, which is to help Yahoo! regain its corporate identity.

rmason 15y ago

I agree with Jason Calcanis that Yahoo needed a product oriented CEO, not just another financial guy. They need someone who groks products and can make acquisitions to grow the audience. You want the operations guy to be the number two, not the CEO.