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There are so many people leaving comments that entirely miss the point here. We will have to wait at least 6 months to really start seeing if Mayer is able to
by geuis 14y ago
There are so many people leaving comments that entirely miss the point here.
We will have to wait at least 6 months to really start seeing if Mayer is able to grapple with the listless behemoth that is Yahoo. Most of that time will be her getting up to speed and laying her own foundation on where the company should go. So don't expect to see much in the surface for at least that long.
Digging further into the content of the story, in many ways this can be considered a valuable resource she has been building for many years.
People will follow a good mentor if there are special opportunities on offer. There are many people at Google and other places that are not satisfied with their options. To these people, money is not as satisfying as control and advancement. If Mayer is able to offer key people better options, many will be inclined to at least explore the idea.
Don't hang on to this idea that Yahoo is the place to suicide your career and/or company via acquisition. That's the old and current Yahoo. If Mayer is able to overcome that old inertia, then Yahoo could easily become a very hot place to be again. A good analogy is to think of an old, massive forest. It's all old trees that are half dead and centuries of undergrowth. A fire finally comes along and sweeps through. All of the undergrowth and dead trees are burned away. Now many young and vibrant plants can grow again, animals come back in abundance, and the whole forest ecosystem is better than ever. And please, hold off on the fucking criticisms of my version of forest ecology. It's an analogy.
So the point here is that if Mayer can start changing things finally, then there will be all kinds of interesting new things that people close to her could benefit from over the next few years.
- yo-mf 14y agoI doubt that even 6 months is enough time given the issues at Yahoo. May Yahoo shareholders show some restraint and patience to see this out as the long-term challenge that it is before jettisoning yet another CEO.
- geuis 14y agoYou have a most excellent point. I'm sure we won't see significant changes for a while, and this is a very long game that must be played. The critical adversaries Mayer will have is the flip floppish board at its head and the shareholders, as you say. Do you know if there were any changes in the board with her hiring? It would be interesting to know which members supported her and which didn't.
- PakG1 14y agoI don't think the board can be called floppish anymore, unless we see it again some time soon. We have to keep in mind that when Daniel Loeb came into the picture, he not only forced Thompson out, he forced the board to change members. It's not the same board as it used to be. And THEN they brought in Mayer.
- sabat 14y agoI doubt it. They've shown questionable judgement merely by hiring Mayer, whose accomplishments at Google are not especially respected among those with inside knowledge, and whose priorities will shift wildly after she gives birth in October. The board will terminate her in 2013 after 7-8 lackluster months. Then they'll start shopping Yahoo to be broken up and sold as parts.
- jaems33 14y ago"and whose priorities will shift wildly after she gives birth in October." Are you insinuating that she'll focus more on her family than her job?
- buffportion 14y agoFor the baby's sake, let's hope so!
- sabat 14y agoAs a parent myself, I know that the first few months of parenthood are difficult and life-changing, regardless of how many nannies one might afford.
- mbreese 14y agoSurely you're not suggesting that she will be less capable to head Yahoo after she becomes a mother? The first few weeks / months are difficult, but after she adjusts to the 'new normal' that is parenthood, she should be right on track.
- EwanG 14y agoAnd yet I have never seen anyone post their concerns when a Male CEO becomes a father. I wonder why that is...
- CamperBob2 14y agoThey should. There are indications that becoming a parent lowers testosterone levels in men. If you want to pretend, for political correctness' sake, that we're not largely slaves to our hormones, have fun with that.