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> Is it strange that people defend Mayer so much? I find it a little strange. One possible reason is that she is a woman. This, seemingly irrelevant fact, has

> Is it strange that people defend Mayer so much? I find it a little strange. One possible reason is that she is a woman. This, seemingly irrelevant fact, has a couple of potential implications. First, criticism towards one of the few female tech CEOs could be viewed as misogynistic. Most people would shy away from such controversy. Second, as a woman in tech she is the underdog, and people love to root for the underdog. Just a theory, I could be way off of course.

Crito 12y ago
Another possible explanation is the state of Yahoo in years preceding her. Basically a company that everyone was kind of surprised was still around. For as much as people dislike Microsoft or Facebook, I don't think many people think "why does this company still exist?" (There was definitely a time when people thought that of Apple though...) (In particular, I remember a lot of this sort of anti-Yahoo sentiment in the months prior to Marissa Mayer, particularly around the time that the Yammer CEO made some announcement that he would not be hiring ex-Yahoo employees because of Yahoo's patent stance. People decried that CEO as being ridiculous, but there were also a lot of people expressing anti-Yahoo sentiments.) Probably some combination of both, as well as a few other factors.
- zem 12y ago
  she also represents the seductive (at least for techies) narrative of an efficient, engineering-focused ceo coming in and cleaning up/revitalising a moribund "suit-driven" company, and hopefully returning it to its glory days when technology was king.
area51org 12y ago
Another possible reason is that she has not actually done anything significant. Her time at Google was not spent working on any projects that produced notable success or revenue. Many think she was hired at Yahoo simply because of voodoo logic: she'll somehow bring Google Magick with her because she happened to get hired at Google early on.
- k3n 12y ago
  > Her time at Google was not spent working on any projects that produced notable success or revenue. Her CV begs to differ: she was VP of Search Products and User Experience, and then held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
- freyr 12y ago
  Mayer is no doubt smart and talented, but she was also at perfect place at the perfect time and rode the Google rocket ship straight to the top. So it's hard for outsiders to really separate talent from circumstance. That said, you're very wrong. She had a defining impact on Google Search from the start, a project that did in fact produce notable success and revenue for the company.

Crito 12y ago

Another possible explanation is the state of Yahoo in years preceding her. Basically a company that everyone was kind of surprised was still around. For as much as people dislike Microsoft or Facebook, I don't think many people think "why does this company still exist?" (There was definitely a time when people thought that of Apple though...) (In particular, I remember a lot of this sort of anti-Yahoo sentiment in the months prior to Marissa Mayer, particularly around the time that the Yammer CEO made some announcement that he would not be hiring ex-Yahoo employees because of Yahoo's patent stance. People decried that CEO as being ridiculous, but there were also a lot of people expressing anti-Yahoo sentiments.) Probably some combination of both, as well as a few other factors.

zem 12y ago
she also represents the seductive (at least for techies) narrative of an efficient, engineering-focused ceo coming in and cleaning up/revitalising a moribund "suit-driven" company, and hopefully returning it to its glory days when technology was king.

area51org 12y ago

Another possible reason is that she has not actually done anything significant. Her time at Google was not spent working on any projects that produced notable success or revenue. Many think she was hired at Yahoo simply because of voodoo logic: she'll somehow bring Google Magick with her because she happened to get hired at Google early on.

k3n 12y ago
> Her time at Google was not spent working on any projects that produced notable success or revenue. Her CV begs to differ: she was VP of Search Products and User Experience, and then held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
freyr 12y ago
Mayer is no doubt smart and talented, but she was also at perfect place at the perfect time and rode the Google rocket ship straight to the top. So it's hard for outsiders to really separate talent from circumstance. That said, you're very wrong. She had a defining impact on Google Search from the start, a project that did in fact produce notable success and revenue for the company.