Yahoo and Execution
June 26, 2009
WebProNews reported in “Yahoo Has Execution Problem: Stop Comparing It to Google” that Yahoo has ideas but making them reality is difficult. Mike Sachoff wrote:
She also said that Yahoo did not have a “vision problem” but that it did have an “execution problem,” which it was working on fixing. Bartz repeated her plan to update Yahoo’s main properties, including its homepage and mail service. She said Yahoo was working on allowing users to customize more services to focus on things they are interested in. Yahoo is also evaluating other existing products to “shut down, repair or outsource.”
In my opinion, thinking up some whizzy service is easy. I recall a Yahoo senior executive slapping a cost of $200 million or so on the amount needed to build a search service. That type of thinking is more deeply flawed than the ability to set a goal, execute tasks, and roll out a service. Crazy notions about cost and complexity will lead a company into more severe problems than non delivery. Yahoo is a technology company and its engineering focus is blurry. Add to that the pressure Google brings to bear on the company and toss in a pinch of economic downturn, and you have a recipe for trouble flan.
The comparisons with Google are inevitable. Yahoo followed the AOL portal path and Google did not. Yahoo stagnated in ads; Google did not. Comparisons are going to be the stuff of business school essays for years to come. Yahoo does not have an execution problem. Yahoo has deep technical, strategic, and financial challenges woven into its business model. Just my opinion.
Stephen Arnold, June 27, 2009
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