Wait, isn't Tumblr going the way of MySpace as we speak? And Mayer's solution is to compete with YouTube? Yeah, that'll work! Here's a clue for saving a company: try not to base your whole business model on competing with another company that already the established leader in every industry your in. I watched Tektronix try to compete with HP by copying everything HP did... where are they now? Trying to compete with Google by copying everything Google does is likewise brain-dead, and you don't have the resources for it in the first place. What business model could Yahoo adopt where they could actually be successful? One of the few assets that have is lots of @yahoo.com email subscribers. There portal is apparently crap, so much so that even the @yahoo.com email subscribers don't even look at it any more.
Something I've never figured out: CEO's primary job is increasing share value. So why aren't they all just paid minimum wage, plus a bonus proportional to how much they increase shareholder value buy? Stock goes down, they eat beans and wieners for dinner. Are all CEO too greedy to accept such a deal? Seems to me, if you had faith in your ability, you'd take the gamble.
The comparisons with Fiorina are apt and inevitable. Let's remind everybody the HP share price shot up 7% the day Fiorna left; I wonder how much the exit of Mayer would increase Yahoo share price by? Of course, that assumes they could manage to find another CEO that was both competent and willing to be CEO of Yahoo. Sounds like kind of a career-limiting move to me.
I believe the original concept was called an "internet portal", but that is a doomed business model. Now they are still running on: 1) Competing head-to-head with Google (doomed) 2) Those people not embarrassed enough to abandon their "@yahoo.com" email address as a captive market for advertising, and 3) Money they invested in other companies like Alibaba. Like most failed tech companies, they don't have a viable business model. Has Mayer done anything to move them to a viable business model? I would consider competing with Google, Amazon, or Facebook to be non-starters. What's left?
The downside of this strategy is obvious: Everyone working there quickly realizes what is going on and sends out resumes. The good people all get offered jobs elsewhere. The only one's that can't get jobs elsewhere are the ones with marginal performance. So laying off "the bottom 20%" also results in losing the top 20%.
Crazy like a fox! Page figured out what a screw-up she was, and recommended her highly to Yahoo so she could run somebody else's company into the ground instead of his own! (This is purely speculation on my part, of course.)
The original business model (internet portal) was doomed. However, if you got money in the bank and plenty of skilled people, you can try to find another business model that works. Mayer didn't, in fact, I believe I read she tried to kill the exploration of new businesses as a waste of money. At this point, they are too risk-averse to bet the company on a whole new business model, so yeah --- they're doomed. Could someone with more balls still turn it around? I don't know, most of the good people have already jumped ship; the most competent people are always the first to leave because they're the ones that have no problem finding other jobs.
There are plenty of professional axe-men in the industry that would happily take the job for far less of a golden parachute that Mayer received, knowing full well they are only going to be there temporarily anyway.
2. Why would a company care about someone who wasn't successful as CEO running another company?
Andy Grove has a different philosophy: if you screwed up so badly that you cost his company money, he'd give you a GLOWING recommendation to go to work for one of his competitors!
What part of the Economics 101 principle of Supply and Demand do you not understand? Also, I suspect these cars contain about $30,000 worth of batteries, so good luck making a cheaper one.
I'm pretty sure ANY company would have had lawyer's preview any preorder contract to make sure the company could cancel the order and refund the money at any time with no reason without incurring any liability. Musk in particular isn't stupid.
Is the test you have to take to prove you're a major-league douchebag still mandatory before they'll let you buy a new BMW? I haven't check lately... (and I keep flunking the test!)
If you drive down the share price of a company, the company's first responsibility is to prevent you from continuing to do that. Elon chose a short-term PR hit rather than giving Alsop an excuse for long-term bad publicity. Plus, anything Alsop says from now on about Tesla will be perceived as Alsop just being pissy about having his car canceled. And then there is the fact that Tesla can't deliver all the Model X cars already ordered while still maintaining quality, so most customers are going to have much longer than expected waits anyway -- better to give the cars to the people that won't bitch about them.
When both sides of the two-party system gleefully work together to shut out any third party candidates or even any non-establishment candidates (like Ross Perot or Ron Paul), do we really still have a true democracy? Why are all the choices for this election so bad?
Even his initials are BS! Sadly, of the available candidates, he's actually the best choice. The only thing worse than the choices we have for a democratic president.. are the choices we have for a republican president.
Good point. Anything that pisses off the religious right is well worth it, in and of itself. But wouldn't a president Sanders also piss off the religious right? I mean, he's not even a Christian, is he?
Right-wing fans boiz, they can't tell the difference between a communist and a democratic socialist. Hint: Most European governments are actually democratic socialist. As are our neighbors to the north.
Slashdot Mirror
Is it just me, or are old white males the only people actually using the SJW acronym?
Remember the days before Facebook, when you had to actually go over to someone's house and hide in the bushes to stalk them?
No, the secret is to only hack computers in another country, because the chances of your getting extradited for computer hacking are practically nil.
Wait, isn't Tumblr going the way of MySpace as we speak? And Mayer's solution is to compete with YouTube? Yeah, that'll work! Here's a clue for saving a company: try not to base your whole business model on competing with another company that already the established leader in every industry your in. I watched Tektronix try to compete with HP by copying everything HP did... where are they now? Trying to compete with Google by copying everything Google does is likewise brain-dead, and you don't have the resources for it in the first place. What business model could Yahoo adopt where they could actually be successful? One of the few assets that have is lots of @yahoo.com email subscribers. There portal is apparently crap, so much so that even the @yahoo.com email subscribers don't even look at it any more.
Reductio ad absurdum for teh win!
It's not a "layoff", it's just for-cause firing with a quota!
Something I've never figured out: CEO's primary job is increasing share value. So why aren't they all just paid minimum wage, plus a bonus proportional to how much they increase shareholder value buy? Stock goes down, they eat beans and wieners for dinner. Are all CEO too greedy to accept such a deal? Seems to me, if you had faith in your ability, you'd take the gamble.
The comparisons with Fiorina are apt and inevitable. Let's remind everybody the HP share price shot up 7% the day Fiorna left; I wonder how much the exit of Mayer would increase Yahoo share price by? Of course, that assumes they could manage to find another CEO that was both competent and willing to be CEO of Yahoo. Sounds like kind of a career-limiting move to me.
I believe the original concept was called an "internet portal", but that is a doomed business model. Now they are still running on: 1) Competing head-to-head with Google (doomed) 2) Those people not embarrassed enough to abandon their "@yahoo.com" email address as a captive market for advertising, and 3) Money they invested in other companies like Alibaba. Like most failed tech companies, they don't have a viable business model. Has Mayer done anything to move them to a viable business model? I would consider competing with Google, Amazon, or Facebook to be non-starters. What's left?
The downside of this strategy is obvious: Everyone working there quickly realizes what is going on and sends out resumes. The good people all get offered jobs elsewhere. The only one's that can't get jobs elsewhere are the ones with marginal performance. So laying off "the bottom 20%" also results in losing the top 20%.
Crazy like a fox! Page figured out what a screw-up she was, and recommended her highly to Yahoo so she could run somebody else's company into the ground instead of his own! (This is purely speculation on my part, of course.)
Wait... are you talking about Mayer or Fiorina? I can't tell!
The original business model (internet portal) was doomed. However, if you got money in the bank and plenty of skilled people, you can try to find another business model that works. Mayer didn't, in fact, I believe I read she tried to kill the exploration of new businesses as a waste of money. At this point, they are too risk-averse to bet the company on a whole new business model, so yeah --- they're doomed. Could someone with more balls still turn it around? I don't know, most of the good people have already jumped ship; the most competent people are always the first to leave because they're the ones that have no problem finding other jobs.
There are plenty of professional axe-men in the industry that would happily take the job for far less of a golden parachute that Mayer received, knowing full well they are only going to be there temporarily anyway.
Andy Grove has a different philosophy: if you screwed up so badly that you cost his company money, he'd give you a GLOWING recommendation to go to work for one of his competitors!
What part of the Economics 101 principle of Supply and Demand do you not understand? Also, I suspect these cars contain about $30,000 worth of batteries, so good luck making a cheaper one.
I'm pretty sure ANY company would have had lawyer's preview any preorder contract to make sure the company could cancel the order and refund the money at any time with no reason without incurring any liability. Musk in particular isn't stupid.
I'm shocked! You're saying there is actually _management_ at slashdot?!?
Microsoft, on the other hand, punishes EVERY customer... by shipping them the product they ordered!
Is the test you have to take to prove you're a major-league douchebag still mandatory before they'll let you buy a new BMW? I haven't check lately... (and I keep flunking the test!)
If you drive down the share price of a company, the company's first responsibility is to prevent you from continuing to do that. Elon chose a short-term PR hit rather than giving Alsop an excuse for long-term bad publicity. Plus, anything Alsop says from now on about Tesla will be perceived as Alsop just being pissy about having his car canceled. And then there is the fact that Tesla can't deliver all the Model X cars already ordered while still maintaining quality, so most customers are going to have much longer than expected waits anyway -- better to give the cars to the people that won't bitch about them.
When both sides of the two-party system gleefully work together to shut out any third party candidates or even any non-establishment candidates (like Ross Perot or Ron Paul), do we really still have a true democracy? Why are all the choices for this election so bad?
Even his initials are BS!
Sadly, of the available candidates, he's actually the best choice. The only thing worse than the choices we have for a democratic president.. are the choices we have for a republican president.
Good point. Anything that pisses off the religious right is well worth it, in and of itself. But wouldn't a president Sanders also piss off the religious right? I mean, he's not even a Christian, is he?
Right-wing fans boiz, they can't tell the difference between a communist and a democratic socialist. Hint: Most European governments are actually democratic socialist. As are our neighbors to the north.