BUSINESS BLOGS
BUSINESS BLOGS
category: business
18 Nov 2008
related tags: Management | Yahoo! |

- Jerry Had to Go

Founders make great CEOs early on.  Sometimes, they make great CEOs when they return.  But that is the exception and not the rule.  Usually they focus on one aspect of a company and leave the operational details to someone else.  For example: Hugh Hefner decides if a woman’s boobies look good to make the centerfold, but he does not decide the company’s strategy.

- Don’t hire anyone named Sue, Marc, etc.

The list of people that is brandied about is ridiculous: Sue Decker needs to leave, too.  Marc Andreessen is basically Jerry Yang II.  The company needs to hire someone not before 1 month and not longer than 2 months from now.  But it should not rush into this.  The higher the profile, the larger the baggage.   So yes, this means no Mark Cuban either.

- The Board’s bloody hands

The Board needs to be held accountable.  They were impotent against Jerry and incompetent with regards to Microsoft.  What kind of track record do they have in their experience sitting on Yahoo!’s boards that they will make the right decision in the SEO search?  Zero.

Yahoo!’s Board should simply ask questions from all candidates, record their interviews, and then open these up to Yahoo! employees, who should have final say.

- What is the future of Yahoo!?

Hint: ask staffers.  If Yahoo! is a media company, then sure, lean towards a Peter Chernin.  If it’s a tech company, then guess what: don’t hire Mr. Chernin, and by extension: ditto Jon Miller or Ross Levinsohn, too.

- Operations vs. Strategy

The company has to understand that it needs to address operational woes as well as strategic ones.  But bringing an investment banker type (such as Quincy Smith) would also not really make sense because it sort of puts up the white flag and makes Yahoo! capitulate operationally, wandering around aimlessly looking to sell.

- Ride out the wave

Online media is now experiencing a slowdown due to a systematic meltdown of the housing, financial, consumer segments… but the secular trends remain very positive.

- 2 wrongs don’t make a right

Yes, you should have sold at $31, but don’t sell at $13, either.  Two wrongs don’t make a right.

- Search

What is Yahoo!’s role in search?  Yes, it still commands 40% but unless Yahoo! can really be a serious player here, then wasting all of that R&D money when the future growth is in video seems foolish.

When Google was riding it high, its stock price kicked yours, at least now, that won’t be the case.

- Mark Your Territory

Icahn bought shares at $25, he should buy a bundle now in the low teens to average out his purchase price and not accept a deal below $20, what should they seek? Much more.

So yes, sure, if Microsoft comes knocking, and they will… talk, be polite, be gracious, but explain that the adage is buy low and sell high… and not sell low.

- Private Equity

Private equity will face challenges, too.  But Blackstone raised $21B at the peak and $9B additionally for a new fund.  Revisit taking the company public now, to be spun off in an IPO in the next decade.  If I owned shares, I would not want to sell now, though.

Ultimately, Yahoo.com is a great asset whereas Yahoo! the company is a zombie… Yahoo! needs to exorcise its past to rescue its soul.