5 ms·

It seems there's a pattern in how she sees other people. * Trying to design the Yahoo logo herself in a weekend (how hard can it be?) * Reading a children's b

It seems there's a pattern in how she sees other people. * Trying to design the Yahoo logo herself in a weekend (how hard can it be?) * Reading a children's book to a room full of employees, to stunned silence * Disallowing remote employees but building a nursery for her child + nanny. (Do other people get Yahoo! daycare too?) * Requiring extensive credentials for other people [Gwyneth Paltrow better have a degree!] but not bothering with background reference checks for people she wanted (Henrique de Castro, who cost Yahoo over $100M for a year's worth of shoddy work). Believe it or not, Jobs had empathy for what the user truly needed, which gave him a killer sense of taste. I feel that's lacking here.

phaus 12y ago
>Believe it or not, Jobs had empathy for what the user truly needed, which gave him a killer sense of taste. I feel that's lacking here. It seems that Marissa's feeling was that if her users don't already like the exact same things that she likes(as a millionaire living in a fantasy world), then they should learn to start liking them.
- Domenic_S 12y ago
  Yes, which stems from vanity/narcissism: "I have exquisite taste, and people want to be me (a millionaire I-can-have-it-all mom/career woman), so everything must reflect my personal aesthetic." Contrast with her hero Jobs.
  - LLWM 12y ago
    It works for plenty of people. That's why professional celebrities like Kim Kardashian can become successful "fashion designers" based on their fame alone. The only caveat is that you do actually have to have good taste to be successful.
    - talmand 12y ago
      I would disagree with your conclusion there.
    - Domenic_S 12y ago
      Unlike fragrances and clothing, nobody (very few?) chooses their email app based on a personality. The celebrity link is just too vague; it isn't "Marissa Mayer's Yahoo!", it's just Yahoo!. Even if it was, millions more people look up to Kim K or Paris H. Also, the investment is way too high to be celeb-driven. It's easy to buy a perfume or a purse or suit or shoes because you like the link to $CELEB. But switching email providers or default search engine? Never happening.
    - nerfhammer 12y ago
      Celebrities with fashion labels or fragrance lines don't design anything, some company that already does those things just licenses their name
      - youngtaff 12y ago
        Victoria Beckham is one exception to this
- Florin_Andrei 12y ago
  For example, they better like eating cake instead?
- gcb0 12y ago
  that is what worked for jobs, like to admit it or not. he failed most products. he got a few right. he had lots of cash to burn until he got it right. He cursed anyone who wanted a tablet when he wanted the iphone. meyer is doing the same. just didn't have the luck jobs had yet.
jonnathanson 12y ago
"Believe it or not, Jobs had empathy for what the user truly needed, which gave him a killer sense of taste. I feel that's lacking here." Yes. It's often said that Steve Jobs was an asshole, but that he was an asshole for the right reasons. He was the guy in the room who cared more than anyone else. He wanted everyone else to give as much of a shit as he did, even when it came to seemingly tiny details. I don't mean to paint a rosy, revisionist, hagiographic coat over his entire legacy, because plenty of his actions burned people in horrible ways. But when he was being micromanager-in-chief, he was usually doing it for a reason.
- soperj 12y ago
  Dude straight up stole money from the guy who made his life possible (Steve Wosniak). Tell me the right reason for that?
  - wavefunction 12y ago
    He obviously wanted the Woz to care about money as much as he did. You see his generosity of spirit now? I admire Jobs for his drive and his vision and his ability to get the best work out of amazing folks but his methods were often terribly inhuman when you really look at them.
    - talmand 12y ago
      He was the idea guy.
      - soperj 12y ago
        And we all know here how much an idea is worth.
        tomp 12y ago
        In Apple's case - about $200BN or more. Anyone could build an iPhone. The proliferation of other platforms (Android, Windows, Ubuntu, ...) proves it. However, nobody but Steve was thinking out of the box at that time. It was just an idea (with a brilliant execution, admittedly).
adl 12y ago
> Believe it or not, Jobs had empathy for what the user truly needed, which gave him a killer sense of taste. I feel that's lacking here. The word empathy to describe Steve Jobs is not the word I would use at all. Maybe "in tune"?
- xanderstrike 12y ago
  I would go with "lucky guess."
  - mercer 12y ago
    While I'm not a fan of Steve Jobs on account of him being a dick, I think he was right too often to just call it a 'lucky guess'. OSX, the MacBook, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad were all hugely successful. I don't think luck can get you that far.
    - Terr_ 12y ago
      > I think he was right too often to just call it a 'lucky guess' Why not? With enough different people flipping coins there'll be somebody gets a hundred heads in a row.
      - billsossoon 12y ago
        Except it wasn't really a case of coin flipping. Flipping coins suggests everybody is playing the same game with roughly equal odds. So what is the game here? Releasing new consumer products randomly and hoping they become popular? When Apple really broke out, PC and electronics manufacturers were still competing with one another based on spec sheets (MHz, RAM, GB, benchmarks, etc. -- whoever has more wins). Apple went in a different direction, putting more effort into product design and user experience and marketing than its competitors. So it wasn't really a case of coin-flipping, because Apple started playing an entirely different game. Or perhaps the coin flipping is at a higher level, e.g. trying different broad strategies to get ahead (like putting greater emphasis on design/UX)? Again, nobody else was really trying new strategies, everyone was playing the specs sheet arms race. So, in this case, there weren't enough people flipping coins to invoke the metaphor.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
atmosx 12y ago
Generally speaking, I don't admire Jobs all that much. But comparing SJ to MM is really closer to an April's fool joke.
CmonDev 12y ago
The problem is that she is not a founder but behaves like one.

phaus 12y ago

>Believe it or not, Jobs had empathy for what the user truly needed, which gave him a killer sense of taste. I feel that's lacking here. It seems that Marissa's feeling was that if her users don't already like the exact same things that she likes(as a millionaire living in a fantasy world), then they should learn to start liking them.

Domenic_S 12y ago
Yes, which stems from vanity/narcissism: "I have exquisite taste, and people want to be me (a millionaire I-can-have-it-all mom/career woman), so everything must reflect my personal aesthetic." Contrast with her hero Jobs.
- LLWM 12y ago
  It works for plenty of people. That's why professional celebrities like Kim Kardashian can become successful "fashion designers" based on their fame alone. The only caveat is that you do actually have to have good taste to be successful.
  - talmand 12y ago
    I would disagree with your conclusion there.
  - Domenic_S 12y ago
    Unlike fragrances and clothing, nobody (very few?) chooses their email app based on a personality. The celebrity link is just too vague; it isn't "Marissa Mayer's Yahoo!", it's just Yahoo!. Even if it was, millions more people look up to Kim K or Paris H. Also, the investment is way too high to be celeb-driven. It's easy to buy a perfume or a purse or suit or shoes because you like the link to $CELEB. But switching email providers or default search engine? Never happening.
  - nerfhammer 12y ago
    Celebrities with fashion labels or fragrance lines don't design anything, some company that already does those things just licenses their name
    - youngtaff 12y ago
      Victoria Beckham is one exception to this
Florin_Andrei 12y ago
For example, they better like eating cake instead?
gcb0 12y ago
that is what worked for jobs, like to admit it or not. he failed most products. he got a few right. he had lots of cash to burn until he got it right. He cursed anyone who wanted a tablet when he wanted the iphone. meyer is doing the same. just didn't have the luck jobs had yet.

jonnathanson 12y ago

"Believe it or not, Jobs had empathy for what the user truly needed, which gave him a killer sense of taste. I feel that's lacking here." Yes. It's often said that Steve Jobs was an asshole, but that he was an asshole for the right reasons. He was the guy in the room who cared more than anyone else. He wanted everyone else to give as much of a shit as he did, even when it came to seemingly tiny details. I don't mean to paint a rosy, revisionist, hagiographic coat over his entire legacy, because plenty of his actions burned people in horrible ways. But when he was being micromanager-in-chief, he was usually doing it for a reason.

soperj 12y ago
Dude straight up stole money from the guy who made his life possible (Steve Wosniak). Tell me the right reason for that?
- wavefunction 12y ago
  He obviously wanted the Woz to care about money as much as he did. You see his generosity of spirit now? I admire Jobs for his drive and his vision and his ability to get the best work out of amazing folks but his methods were often terribly inhuman when you really look at them.
  - talmand 12y ago
    He was the idea guy.
    - soperj 12y ago
      And we all know here how much an idea is worth.
      - tomp 12y ago
        In Apple's case - about $200BN or more. Anyone could build an iPhone. The proliferation of other platforms (Android, Windows, Ubuntu, ...) proves it. However, nobody but Steve was thinking out of the box at that time. It was just an idea (with a brilliant execution, admittedly).

adl 12y ago

> Believe it or not, Jobs had empathy for what the user truly needed, which gave him a killer sense of taste. I feel that's lacking here. The word empathy to describe Steve Jobs is not the word I would use at all. Maybe "in tune"?

xanderstrike 12y ago
I would go with "lucky guess."
- mercer 12y ago
  While I'm not a fan of Steve Jobs on account of him being a dick, I think he was right too often to just call it a 'lucky guess'. OSX, the MacBook, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad were all hugely successful. I don't think luck can get you that far.
  - Terr_ 12y ago
    > I think he was right too often to just call it a 'lucky guess' Why not? With enough different people flipping coins there'll be somebody gets a hundred heads in a row.
    - billsossoon 12y ago
      Except it wasn't really a case of coin flipping. Flipping coins suggests everybody is playing the same game with roughly equal odds. So what is the game here? Releasing new consumer products randomly and hoping they become popular? When Apple really broke out, PC and electronics manufacturers were still competing with one another based on spec sheets (MHz, RAM, GB, benchmarks, etc. -- whoever has more wins). Apple went in a different direction, putting more effort into product design and user experience and marketing than its competitors. So it wasn't really a case of coin-flipping, because Apple started playing an entirely different game. Or perhaps the coin flipping is at a higher level, e.g. trying different broad strategies to get ahead (like putting greater emphasis on design/UX)? Again, nobody else was really trying new strategies, everyone was playing the specs sheet arms race. So, in this case, there weren't enough people flipping coins to invoke the metaphor.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

atmosx 12y ago

Generally speaking, I don't admire Jobs all that much. But comparing SJ to MM is really closer to an April's fool joke.

CmonDev 12y ago

The problem is that she is not a founder but behaves like one.