A VC: A VC: As Long As We Are Rethinking Yahoo's Board
Shripriya
· 1 year ago
I completely agree that Yahoo needs to get smaller and more focused. But I would add that you need someone who has the experience at running a really large company to know how to get to the new size and focus. Jerry hasn't really "run" Yahoo as a large company and what he's done in the past year has not been impressive. One recommendation would be Meg Whitman - she knows what it takes to run a large company. She's seen the upside and downsides of it. She's not super-technical, but she gets the internet space and the strategic landscape. She's a tough fighter and able to make very hard decisions. With her giving up the CEO position at eBay, she's less conflicted, but may still be too conflicted given the continuing eBay connections. One of her favorite quotes is "We manage a company, not a stock price". That could not be more true in this situation.
Mike Moritz has already spent time on the board and as you said, it is unlikely he'd go back. Why not replace one VC with another who's sold lots of companies to Yahoo and spends serious time thinking about the landscape? ;-)
curmudgeonly troll
· 1 year ago
Ummh... eBay has disappointed users worse than Yahoo...have you noticed it's no longer possible to sell anything on eBay?
Can anyone explain why it should take me longer than a couple of hours to sell an Xbox on eBay. Instead it takes 1 month and multiple hassles with scammers? I have a closet full of stuff I'd sell if it was worth the effort.
eBay is fortunate the barriers to entry are much higher and they haven't been targeted by a fierce competitor... but I think if Google (or a Fred-funded startup) put out a distributed auction system so I could sell stuff on my site and simultaneously Facebook etc. eBay could be in trouble before long.
Howard Greenstein
· 1 year ago
So you're not interested in serving?
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
no, i have responsibilities to my investors. as do most of the people on my list.
dcostolo
· 1 year ago
Walrath should be the new CEO there. He understands the future of advertising, how to compete in markets where you do and don't have leverage, and how to attack from the flanks. He's the person on the inside of that company that could step in and run that business at scale. I would replace any one of the other suggestions with somebody who has turned a company around. This strikes me as a unique skill, and while it's a stretch to call yahoo! a "turnaround", i think you know what I mean. It needs a Gerstner type who can come into a successful but struggling environment and change the rules while everybody else is saying "we don't do things that way here". Having said all this, I agree completely that Icahn's proposed slate is a transparent collection of yes men to his wishes to flip this thing quickly or profit from the effort to displace the existing board.
edythe
· 1 year ago
good list. in particular i like the inclusion of Caterina Fake, Bill Gross, and Tim O'Reilly.
Natalie Bancroft. But mostly because I'm trying out Disqus. Don't feel that strongly about it: Can someone tell me when a board has had a significant *positive* effect on a large public company?
Steven Kane
· 1 year ago
great list fred
might quibble with one or two names but minor quibbles really
some other candidates
Roger McNamee - visionary macro thinker
Carl Icahn - if you're in shark infested waters, maybe you need the biggest shark to protect you
Jeff Bezos - nobody but nobody has seen or done more in the interactive media or experienced higher ups and lower downs as public company etc
Gordon Crawford - no idea if we would or could do it, but sharehodlers viewpoint will be totally honestly covered and protected
more to come (maybe)
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
good suggestions steve
i think we should also consider our mutual friend Seth Godin who also sold his company to Yahoo!
fred
GL
· 1 year ago
First Team:
Add: John Chamber's access to global 2000 companies Remove: Mike Moritz (yes, he's the best). Put simply don't understand how a VC can add value to a public board when their core job description is to chase down new small investment deals and nurture small private companies.
Second Team: Add: Carlos Slim: "OWNS" all of Latin America. Access to mobile assets will become extremely valuable as the next great platform is wireless. Oh a, he's also globally connected and pretty smart. Add: George Reyes; when he retires from GOOG. Will be a free agent.Who better to draw up a financial roadmap!!!
Joe
· 1 year ago
This is a very "old web centric" board. What about mobile?
I think your list needs a few more people with actual CEO operating experience at an important internet company. More Walraths and less O'Reillys. Any smart person can come up with good ideas, few have the ability to execute them, or more aptly in this case to know whether they can be executed and provide insight and oversight on how. As long as this is fantaty, take out O'Reilly, Benkler and Peretsman, and add Larry Ellison, Meg Whitman and Steve Case.
Alexander Muse
· 1 year ago
Don't be frustrated. If Yahoo had actually sought the involvement of "Someone like Joshua Schachter or Stewart Butterfield or Caterina Fake or Eric Marcoullier or Al Warms or Satish Dharmaraj." they wouldn't find themselves the target of Carl's efforts. Assuming Carl can pull it off, Microsoft HAS agreed to buy the company so the slate of directors won't matter a lick.
Mark
· 1 year ago
Agree with most of your thoughts except this one:
"And I think they should partner in some way with Google to increase the monetization of their search without giving up on their own search platform entirely."
Obviously that's a short-term revenue gain, but it seems like a death knell longer term.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
i am not sure about that. let's say they pick 20% of the keywords that Google monetizes the best and they do a two year deal around those. that doesn't mean they don't continue to invest in their own platform
Henry Blodget
· 1 year ago
I don't know about Roy Bostock, Fred. I really feel like he blew the Microsoft negotiations. Jerry's obviously emotionally tied to the company, but Bostock seemed to be AWOL (including at that last meeting before Microsoft walked). But in any event...
I'd put Ellen or David Siminoff on there. Maybe Tim Koogle. Someone who has known the company and industry intimately from the beginning and was around when it was great. And, for a truly fresh perspective, Mark Zuckerberg.
dave
· 1 year ago
Another thought -- maybe Yahoo ought to issue a dividend to its users, all stock, no cash. Just to get us thinking about ways to make them successful. I've always wondered what would happen if one of these companies really gave their users equity. Of course I am not a lawyer, and have no idea if this is legal or if it would create a huge tax problem or whatever.
howardlindzon
· 1 year ago
no monkies?
BjornTipling
· 1 year ago
Jerry Yang as CEO seems like it would mean more of the same aimless direction.
Rolest
· 1 year ago
Yahoo! has too much competition with Google. Yahoo! needs a big partner like MSFT if it is to survive. Playing with Google was just a chess move against MSFT. If they truly partner with Google in any way, the antitrust fellows are going to be down their neck in about 10 minutes, and even if it did happen, Yahoo! would soon be renamed Yahgoo!
Jay
· 1 year ago
Fred: This list is horrible. A random selection of 500 business people culled from the phone book would do better.
gregory
· 1 year ago
isn't ichan the guy who screwed twa? strange, who the heroes of the business world are
Steve Poland
· 1 year ago
You lost me at Dave Winer.
Victor
· 1 year ago
Here's my board: - Jeff Bezos - Eric Schmidt - Steve Jobs - Barry Diller - Peter Thiel - Mark Cuban - Pierre Omidyar - Carl Icahn - Larry Ellison - Henry Blodget
(the last was is subject to consideration based on the quality of his future analysis :)
db
· 1 year ago
I think your slate is much better than what Icahn has suggested. His slate is a joke and definitely not intended as a long-term board or one that would consider the long-term health of the company should MS choose to stay away.
I would also include the following in any list of potential board members: Andy Bechtolsheim, Steve Jobs, Mitch Kapor, and Johnathon Zittrain. Each have geek creed and bring a variety of different tech and business experience with them.
fredwilson
· 1 year ago
i thought about Jobs for my list but then i realized he doesn't get the internet
db
· 1 year ago
True, but he gets how to evolve an iconic brand and make it more iconic.
JoeDuck
· 1 year ago
So this is the WHO's Yahoo board plan, right? "Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss!"
Neither Icahn nor MS will approach this with Jerry in power. The hostility goes both ways and the differences are not reconcilable. If you think MS should take over Yahoo you can't leave Jerry in power or the conflict would be too threatening to all concerned.
Joseph
· 1 year ago
Icahan is not stupid. I am sure he already discussed this wish MSFT and I am sure MSF Tis willing to buy it at 33 or less. Basically what msft did is outsource the dirty work of replacing the board members without costing them a penny and hassle.
Just because MSFT doesn't come out and say we will buy it once Icahan implemented a new borad, it doesn't mean they are not interested. Remember, MSFT needs Yahoo to have a slight chance of fighting Google.
Ethan Bauley
· 1 year ago
The Yochai Benkler suggestion was brilliant. I'd add that John Seely Brown or John Hagel would be equally effective in that role.
I've heard many say this (including Obama), but the greatest risk for many people/organizations these days is...not taking enough risk.
DanRunion
· 1 year ago
What's funny is that I can't tell you the last time I was on anything Yahoo! related.
Antman
· 1 year ago
Ya know, this one got me thinkin'!
I don't now if I agee or disagree with the actual list, but what I do know is I dig the context for HOW ya think about putting a board together. Board developement and member recruitement at high-profile companies seems to be somewhat of a popularity contest rather than serious commitment to corporate governance.
Boards can provide tremendous value AND should be credited with providing measurable value in the success of an organization, unfortunately it seems that few board selection processess operate from the same philosophical foundation you do.
BTW: I like the Jobs suggestion, there is something to be said about someone who's vision makes him a billionaire, in two different industries. He's got good vision, internet or not. And besides, the lack of experience can be an asset.
All Comments
Mike Moritz has already spent time on the board and as you said, it is unlikely he'd go back. Why not replace one VC with another who's sold lots of companies to Yahoo and spends serious time thinking about the landscape? ;-)
http://consumerist.com/5007790/its-now-complete...
Can anyone explain why it should take me longer than a couple of hours to sell an Xbox on eBay. Instead it takes 1 month and multiple hassles with scammers? I have a closet full of stuff I'd sell if it was worth the effort.
eBay is fortunate the barriers to entry are much higher and they haven't been targeted by a fierce competitor... but I think if Google (or a Fred-funded startup) put out a distributed auction system so I could sell stuff on my site and simultaneously Facebook etc. eBay could be in trouble before long.
I've started a People's Choice BricaBox for this:
http://yahooboard.bricabox.com/
might quibble with one or two names but minor quibbles really
some other candidates
Roger McNamee - visionary macro thinker
Carl Icahn - if you're in shark infested waters, maybe you need the biggest shark to protect you
Jeff Bezos - nobody but nobody has seen or done more in the interactive media or experienced higher ups and lower downs as public company etc
Gordon Crawford - no idea if we would or could do it, but sharehodlers viewpoint will be totally honestly covered and protected
more to come (maybe)
i think we should also consider our mutual friend Seth Godin who also sold his company to Yahoo!
fred
Add: John Chamber's access to global 2000 companies
Remove: Mike Moritz (yes, he's the best). Put simply don't understand how a VC can add value to a public board when their core job description is to chase down new small investment deals and nurture small private companies.
Second Team:
Add: Carlos Slim: "OWNS" all of Latin America. Access to mobile assets will become extremely valuable as the next great platform is wireless. Oh a, he's also globally connected and pretty smart.
Add: George Reyes; when he retires from GOOG. Will be a free agent.Who better to draw up a financial roadmap!!!
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2008/0...
"And I think they should partner in some way with Google to increase the monetization of their search without giving up on their own search platform entirely."
Obviously that's a short-term revenue gain, but it seems like a death knell longer term.
I'd put Ellen or David Siminoff on there. Maybe Tim Koogle. Someone who has known the company and industry intimately from the beginning and was around when it was great. And, for a truly fresh perspective, Mark Zuckerberg.
This list is horrible. A random selection of 500 business people culled from the phone book would do better.
- Jeff Bezos
- Eric Schmidt
- Steve Jobs
- Barry Diller
- Peter Thiel
- Mark Cuban
- Pierre Omidyar
- Carl Icahn
- Larry Ellison
- Henry Blodget
(the last was is subject to consideration based on the quality of his future analysis :)
I would also include the following in any list of potential board members: Andy Bechtolsheim, Steve Jobs, Mitch Kapor, and Johnathon Zittrain. Each have geek creed and bring a variety of different tech and business experience with them.
Neither Icahn nor MS will approach this with Jerry in power. The hostility goes both ways and the differences are not reconcilable. If you think MS should take over Yahoo you can't leave Jerry in power or the conflict would be too threatening to all concerned.
Just because MSFT doesn't come out and say we will buy it once Icahan implemented a new borad, it doesn't mean they are not interested. Remember, MSFT needs Yahoo to have a slight chance of fighting Google.
I've heard many say this (including Obama), but the greatest risk for many people/organizations these days is...not taking enough risk.
I don't now if I agee or disagree with the actual list, but what I do know is I dig the context for HOW ya think about putting a board together. Board developement and member recruitement at high-profile companies seems to be somewhat of a popularity contest rather than serious commitment to corporate governance.
Boards can provide tremendous value AND should be credited with providing measurable value in the success of an organization, unfortunately it seems that few board selection processess operate from the same philosophical foundation you do.
BTW: I like the Jobs suggestion, there is something to be said about someone who's vision makes him a billionaire, in two different industries. He's got good vision, internet or not. And besides, the lack of experience can be an asset.