[jamra]

I think there's a huge problem trying to have someone non-technical take charge of a technical task without a proper engineering team behind him. The automatic buying of ads seems like a difficult task.

I don't think a CEO like MM can buy big execs to solve this problem for Yahoo. They need teams of intelligent engineers in addition to experienced execs.

Taking this into account with all the talent acquisitions Yahoo has been doing, it's becoming clear that Yahoo will not be able to create any kind of technical infrastructure. At best, they can hold onto their current revenue model and try to reduce their costs as much as possible.

[kylebrown]

His task wasn't technical, he was hired as COO (not CTO) and tasked with bringing in ad revenue from big brands for Yahoo. They would presumably hire a people-friendly salesperson to do that.

But the article has quotes about his "difficult personality". He's been called charming but also "kind of an asshole" who was disliked by clients and employees.

[randallu]

It's pretty depressing they spent all that money on apps and seemed to go nowhere with any of them.

If you have something hot then what can Yahoo possibly offer you to go and work there, knowing that everything else they touched went nowhere?

[kylebrown]

All that money on apps?

Yahoo offered this guy $64 million for a 4 year contract. He's leaving after a bit longer than a year, and keeping almost all of it.

[adharmad]

Yahoo's problems go deeper than that. Throwing a few million dollars at some acquisitions or talented execs may be a right step, but it is a far cry from fixing the engineering and work culture. That will take sometime, and I hope that the board and MM have the patience.

[sjg007]

It would be fascinating to get an insider view on this.