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.
I 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.
You 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.
I 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.
I 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.
I wrote some of the best, most creative code of my life in the first 6 months after my son was born. I was focused, and yet could work on multiple project simultaneously very effectively.
I got hardly any sleep, so if that is "being a slave to my hormones" I'm all for it!
Either way, I think it is fair to say that the effects or parenthood are very unpredictable.
You'll need to offer studies establishing a causal relationship between testosterone levels and technical/business success for the difference to mean anything.
For all we know lower testosterone levels may lead to a heightened business acumen.
It obviously does not affect everyone in the same way, but as a generalization, I would say that becoming a parent clearly makes one a more responsible person.
Surely 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.
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.