Can Mayer survive at Yahoo?
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is still trying to keep her job, despite the growing number of people demanding her dismissal. Shareholders, disappointed with Yahoo’s apparent inability to pull out of a dive, are among the loudest critics. In response to these calls, Mayer agreed to an interview with PBS anchor Charlie Rose. When asked about her future, Mayer remained positive, saying she would love to be running Yahoo next year. Coupled with this comment, Mayer added some quotes meant to endear her to the rest of the team: “we have a terrific team at Yahoo, and I really hope they’re allowed to continue on to do good work.” Interesting phrasing. Note that Mayer went from inclusive language (we) to exclusive language (they) in the same sentence. Was that a mistake of phrasing or was Mayer telegraphing something even more extreme than her own firing? Bigger problems at Yahoo, perhaps? In the same interview, Mayer admitted things are Yahoo are far from rosy. The company is lagging in key market areas, particularly mobile. She admitted that fact while trying to defend her own record. When Mayer was hired, she says the company only had 50 engineers. Now, says Mayer, they have more than 500 working on mobile tech. That, according to Mayer, makes Yahoo “one of the biggest app development shops in the world.” Well, if that’s true, good for Marissa, but it may be too little too late. When consumers think of app designers does anyone really bring up Yahoo? The company is coming to the party much later than competitors who already have established markets and sales chains. Mayer said she helped Yahoo shorten their learning curve by acquiring various properties already working in the field. Unfortunately, according to independent watchdogs, those acquisitions didn’t really pan out. So, is it truly a point in the plus column that you made