梅耶爾接管雅虎后的三大決定
????上周,在《財富》雜志(Fortune)舉辦的最具影響力女性峰會上,瑪麗莎?梅耶爾對話本刊高級編輯帕蒂?塞勒斯。
????上周早些時候,雅虎(Yahoo)發布了季度業績。雖然這家公司表示,宣稱其Web 1.0資產轉型成功尚需時日,但瑪麗莎?梅耶爾的快速處事方式(包括24項收購、15項重要產品推出與更新以及公司文化的全面改革)讓投資者頗感振奮。事實上,自從2012年7月梅耶爾上任以來,雅虎股價已經上漲了一倍多。 ????但正如梅耶爾上周在華盛頓舉辦的《財富》最具影響力女性峰會上所說的那樣,她認為,事實上需要領導人做出的決定不多,但“你必須完美地做出這些決定”。下面是梅耶爾為雅虎所做的三大決定:
????致力于移動應用 ????梅耶爾說:“我認為,雅虎的未來將是移動應用?!倍遥袛祿碜C明。本月早些時候進行的公司業績電話會議上,雅虎宣布,僅上一個季度,它的月度移動用戶基礎就增長了15%至3.80億。從公司內部看,梅耶爾為促進創新,換掉了公司的黑莓(BlackBerrys)手機,給每位雅虎員工發放主導全球智能手機市場的蘋果(Apple)iOS和安卓(Android)手機。這事看起來很簡單,但其實另有深意。梅耶爾說:“我們把它叫做內部測試...讓人們體驗自己開發的產品?!?/p> ????引進新人才 ????梅耶爾還協同努力將新人才引入雅虎。自從梅耶爾上任以來,雅虎已經新聘用了1,000名工程師和至少50名博士,大舉招聘使得應聘者大增:僅上個季度,雅虎就收到了17,000份申請。 ????收購輕博客Tumblr ????雅虎以11億美元收購Tumblr令業界矚目。盡管這家由高中輟學生大衛?卡普創立的初創公司擁有超過1.36億博客,但去年僅獲得1,300萬美元的收入。(據稱,這個網站的目標是2013年獲得1億美元收入。)但梅耶爾認為,她押下這樣的“大賭注”物有所值。她將雅虎和Tumblr比作互補的大陸,至少從地理意義上,就像南美洲和非洲:比如,雅虎的用戶年齡相對較大,而Tumblr的用戶要年輕很多。至于卡普自己?梅耶爾表示:“他的確與他的網站社區非常合拍?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W)? |
????Earlier this week, Yahoo (YHOO) reported quarterly earnings, and while they indicate the Web 1.0 property still has a long slog ahead before its turnaround could be called successful, Marissa Mayer's fast-acting approach, which includes 24 acquisitions, 15 major product launches and refreshes, and a cultural overhaul, has investors excited. Indeed, the company's stock is up over 100% since she started in July 2012. ????But as Mayer explained this week at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit, held in Washington, D.C., she believes there are actually just a few decisions a leader really needs to make, but "you need to make them perfectly." Here are her top three for Yahoo: ????A commitment to mobile ????"I think Yahoo's future is going to be mobile apps," Mayer said. And she has the numbers to prove it. Earlier this week during the company's earnings call, Yahoo disclosed that its mobile user base grew by 15% to 380 million monthly members over the last quarter alone. From an internal standpoint, Mayer fanned the innovation flames by swapping out the BlackBerrys (BBRY) still being issued to every Yahoo employee for Apple (AAPL) iOS and Android devices, which now dominate the global smartphone market. Basic as it may sound, the move makes sense. Says Mayer: "We call it dog-fooding ... where people try the product they're developing." ????Inject new talent ????Mayer has also made a concerted effort to bring new talent to Yahoo. To wit, the company has hired 1,000 new engineers and at least 50 Ph.D.s in total since Mayer took the reins, a move that has prompted an uptick in interested applicants: Yahoo received 17,000 applications in the last quarter alone. ????Buying Tumblr ????Yahoo's $1.1 billion acquisition of Tumblr certainly got the industry's attention. Although the startup founded by high school dropout David Karp hosts 136 million-plus blogs, it reportedly pulled in just $13 million in revenues last year. (It's been said the company is aiming for $100 million for 2013.) But Mayer argues her "big bet" makes a lot of sense, comparing the relationship between Yahoo and Tumblr to complementary continents -- at least geographically-speaking -- like South America and Africa: Yahoo's demographic skew older, for instance, while Tumblr's is significantly younger. As for Karp himself? Says Mayer: "He's really in tune with the community he has." |