There’s Potential for Yahoo

In a great post this morning by Louie Herr on Digital Trends (http://www.digitaltrends.com/opinion/can-yahoo-retain-the-talent-for-a-turnaround/) he looks at what the future of Yahoo looks like with Marissa Mayer now at the helm.  The commentary looks at the potential of the company and the dependency on attracting – and retaining – the right talent.

I feel strongly that indeed with the right talent, Yahoo has a good chance to make a good comeback.  This has been hotly debated within the tech community in large part because so much of Yahoo’s core properties have been sitting essentially dormant for so long.  Talent is absolutely what will make or break Yahoo’s potential.  Yahoo has a great core product set, however, it needs strong engineering and UX leadership to revamp the offerings.  What is going to be key is getting that leadership in place – quickly.  Strong leadership will attract the engineering talent that Louie notes as missing.

Yahoo is unfortunately one of the business school case study examples of a company that lost its way.  What appears to never have been in place – or at least adhered to – was a strong set of strategies coupled with a stated mission.  One of Mayer’s first tasks should be to evaluate the various Yahoo properties, determine the underlying mission of the company, the strategies that will help it accomplish said mission, and then build a complementary leadership team.

Do I think Yahoo has a fighting chance?  Absolutely.  Do I think the window is short to turn things around? Absolutely.  I am a consumer of many Yahoo products and hope they can find their way.