« Would Anyone Miss the Yellow Pages? | Main | mesh ‘09 Now on Sale »
Say Goodnight, Jerry
By Mark Evans | November 17, 2008
Jerry Yang’s ride as Yahoo CEO was short but, sadly, not so sweet as he’s finally been pushed aside.
The sad truth is Yang should never have succeeded Terry Semel as CEO in the first place. He’s a nice guy, clearly very smart and a die-hard Yahoo-ian but he doesn’t/didn’t have the experience to be the CEO of a multi-billion dollar, multi-national company.
Before taking the reigns, Yang was doing was he was supposed to be doing - supporting the Yahoo cause, advising senior executives and, as important, being a walking/talking reminder of what Yahoo represented before it went all dysfunctional and strategically pear-shaped.
Yang should never have agreed to be CEO. It was a personal and professional mistake. Perhaps it was hubris, perhaps it was the genuine belief that he could lead Yahoo back to the promised land. In the end, his time as CEO was a disaster.
As for who’s next, the question is whether it will make a difference. Although still a leading player, Yahoo has lost its way. Anyone who agrees to take over as CEO will need the power to reshape Yahoo in a major way.
If Yahoo has any chance of rebounding, it can’t be all things to all people so assets will be sold or closed, and more employees let go. It will not be an easy job but the benchmark for being Yahoo’s CEO is so low these days, anything they do will seen in a positive light.
Technorati Tags: jerry yang, yahoo
Topics: Web 2.0 |
November 18th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
It is a shame because the lack of direction has set Yahoo on the path to defeat. But I hope that they don’t go this route - Yahoo offers so many good services, Flickr, Delicious, etc. but they have also launched many flops.