Steve Jobs trotted out to motivate Yahoo! execs

***AppleInsider*** · 10-01-2007, 07:30 PM

In a move that reportedly resonated well with many of Yahoo's top brass, chief executive Jerry Yang on Friday did his part to revitalize sagging morale at the search giant with an exec-level meeting that included a surprise motivational speech by Steve Jobs as one of its highlights.

Yang, who called Jobs one of his "heroes," was admittedly nervous as he sat down to interview the Apple chief amongst some 300+ Yahoo executives who he was hoping to inspire and set forth on a new path towards success and innovation.

The basic message that Jobs delivered was that Yahoo -- a company with one of the largest Internet user bases -- can do and achieve anything. Like Apple, he explained, Yahoo retains some incredibly valuable assets, but now must focus on execution.

Among the other key focuses of the meeting laid out by Yang and other Yahoo executives were "the building out of Yahoo’s ad network, taking advantage of its 'consumer insights'; the creation of a healthier corporate culture where fresh ideas could bubble up more effectively and be launched with less agony; and a new move to create a more open network a la Facebook on Yahoo for third-party developers to publish on and create more robust offerings."

While many were reportedly dubious of the latter and Yahoo's ability to open itself up, the meeting was deemed a resounding success with several of the company's vice presidents returning to their jobs "feeling jazzed up and ready to rumble."

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

Ireland · 10-01-2007, 07:36 PM

Slow news day.

TednDi · 10-01-2007, 07:42 PM

Quote ""feeling jazzed up and ready to rumble."

DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELO.....

oh, wrong steve.

sorry.

***Kasper*** · 10-01-2007, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireland

Slow news day.

It was, but I honestly would have published this even on a busy news day. You don't at least find it interesting that they asked him and he showed up?

Best,

K

Ireland · 10-01-2007, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasper

It was, but I honestly would have published this even on a busy news day. You don't at least find it interesting that they asked him and he showed up?

Best,

K

Meh, I was more thinking; "There's a few issues in inside your company that need to be addressed first Steve - namely that phone thing."

SpamSandwich · 10-01-2007, 08:05 PM

I found it very interesting, and I wonder what Google thought about this?

Dreil · 10-01-2007, 08:06 PM

Activating RDF....

Ireland · 10-01-2007, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

I found it very interesting, and I wonder what Google thought about this?

Enough of that mischief there. Stay back after class you

Zandros · 10-01-2007, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasper

It was, but I honestly would have published this even on a busy news day. You don't at least find it interesting that they asked him and he showed up?

Best,

K

The image of Steve Jobs being brought out to amuse some people like a dressage horse made me laugh, so thanks for that at least.

/Adrian

backtomac · 10-01-2007, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasper

It was, but I honestly would have published this even on a busy news day. You don't at least find it interesting that they asked him and he showed up?

Best,

K

I found it interesting.

I'm intrigued by the relationships Apple and SJ is developing with Yahoo and Google. I wonder where it's heading.

fahlman · 10-01-2007, 10:09 PM

Yahoo! can start by allowing Safari users access to their mail beta.

mdriftmeyer · 10-01-2007, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

I found it very interesting, and I wonder what Google thought about this?

Thinking, Apple wants to expand it's brand.

anantksundaram · 10-01-2007, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fahlman

Yahoo! can start by allowing Safari users access to their mail beta.

Yeah.... p***es me off.

Rot'nApple · 10-01-2007, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Yang, who called Jobs one of his "heroes," was admittedly nervous as he sat down to interview the Apple chief amongst some 300+ Yahoo executives

Dang, 300+ Yahoo executives?! Does Yahoo have an employee base to do the work???

It'll take more than an inspirational speech by Jobs.

Can you imagine 300+ executives at Apple?? I mean sure there is the Top Brass and of course lower tier managers and department heads of their respective employees but I doubt that they would fall into the category of executives... would they?

FruJu · 10-01-2007, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Yeah.... p***es me off.

The latest Yahoo Mail release works with Safari 3.03 - albeit a couple of rendering bugs.

I don't think the full release has rolled out to all their mail farms yet, however.

**JeffDM** · 10-01-2007, 11:26 PM

Quote:

The basic message that Jobs delivered was that Yahoo -- a company with one of the largest Internet user bases -- can do and achieve anything. Like Apple, he explained, Yahoo retains some incredibly valuable assets, but now must focus on execution.

Is he the world's most expensive motivational poster boy/speaker?

Quote:

Among the other key focuses of the meeting laid out by Yang and other Yahoo executives were "the building out of Yahoo’s ad network, taking advantage of its 'consumer insights'; the creation of a healthier corporate culture where fresh ideas could bubble up more effectively and be launched with less agony; and a new move to create a more open network a la Facebook on Yahoo for third-party developers to publish on and create more robust offerings."

While many were reportedly dubious of the latter and Yahoo's ability to open itself up, the meeting was deemed a resounding success with several of the company's vice presidents returning to their jobs "feeling jazzed up and ready to rumble."

The best way to fix corporate culture is to find the right people in the company, group together and defect to build a new company, but then, there probably are non-compete contracts in the way.

And Yahoo's ad network bites, but that's just a perspective of someone that's actually tried to use it. I've never seen an internet-based service so poorly assembled that it might be worse than services designed to drive people away. Yahoo obviously didn't even properly try out the service / network before buying it.

nvidia2008 · 10-02-2007, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffDM

Is he the world's most expensive motivational poster boy/speaker?

He's 100x better than Anthony Robbins, at least. Though when the RDF wears off, you'll be like, OMFG what did I just do... I've just bought 5 MacBookPros and 10 iPhones because I was so inspired to change the world...

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffDM

...The best way to fix corporate culture is to find the right people in the company, group together and defect to build a new company, but then, there probably are non-compete contracts in the way.

Somebody said non-compete was illegal in California...?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffDM

And Yahoo's ad network bites, but that's just a perspective of someone that's actually tried to use it. I've never seen an internet-based service so poorly assembled that it might be worse than services designed to drive people away. Yahoo obviously didn't even properly try out the service / network before buying it.

I hate Yahoo with a passion, in general. Everything about it -- mail, messaging, ads, portals, music, everything.

I think basically Yahoo is freaking out because Google is up their rear end and FaceBook is making everyone, er, lose face.

I had an interview in 2004 with Yahoo Australia/NZ in Sydney. I had (a) no idea how I got the interview (and they called me back for a second interview) (b) no idea what the position was (c) no idea what their revenue model was or what everyone in that big office actually did.

Social networking 2.0 I at least understand. Google Maps, Search, Mail, Calendar, Blogs, I get. OK flickr is actually cool but it was independently developed before Yahoo bought it???

In fact, W.T.F. does Yahoo actually *do* nowadays????

nvidia2008 · 10-02-2007, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireland

Shamrock etc etc...

Business picking up?

Aqua OS X · 10-02-2007, 06:11 AM

jpellino · 10-02-2007, 08:59 AM

You guys are great! Yeah, I know your chief competitor's search is hard-coded into our browser's toolbar, and yeah, Eric's on my board, but no, you guys, really, I love you, and you should really keep doing all that great stuff you do. And look! I brought each of you a coupon for a Starbucks' latte!

satchmo · 10-02-2007, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpellino

You guys are great! Yeah, I know your chief competitor's search is hard-coded into our browser's toolbar, and yeah, Eric's on my board, but no, you guys, really, I love you, and you should really keep doing all that great stuff you do. And look! I brought each of you a coupon for a Starbucks' latte!

An ally today may become foe tomorrow. You never burn your bridges and diss another company...at least in public (see Michael Dell) ;-)

hankx32 · 10-02-2007, 10:31 AM

regarding yahoo, I feel that their brand logo is dated. Even the name seem a bit misplaced in todays world. Apple maintains an ultra hip presence and aura, among others. The Yahoo logo seems quaint, this includes the basic cosmetic design of there site. I think their content is top notch and services effective. They need to tighten up their design and grow up a bit.

dfiler · 10-02-2007, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

In fact, W.T.F. does Yahoo actually *do* nowadays????

Good point, they've been losing mind-share for quite a few years now. Best thing they've got right now in my opinion is their email service. They have one of the most recognized and trusted domains for personal email accounts.

Unfortunately, they've let email hosting languish. POP access is great but why not IMAP? Their new web-mail interface looks slick but is too slow for many users to use without aggrevation. I've tried it off and on for a long time and the old interface has always proven quicker and more reliable.

I've exclusively used a single yahoo email account for almost exactly a decade now. Having a static email address has made life simple. Collegues, businesses, and cquaintances from a decade ago can contact me without difficulty. Watching people constantly hop email addresses leaves me baffled. Why not pay a few bucks a year and keep the same email address until the email hosting service goes out of business?

Yahoo could leverage their longevity and reputation to make themselves the go to provider for longterm email addresses. In my opinion, this should be their core service behind perhaps their dieing porthole/search-engine business.

SpamSandwich · 10-02-2007, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aqua OS X

SpamSandwich · 10-02-2007, 01:50 PM

Yahoo! has become the new AOL... which means they are in a good position to be purchased at a rock-bottom price by Microsoft or the like... maybe Facebook with search...

ecking · 10-02-2007, 03:39 PM

Why is Jobs able to play the fence at both google and yahoo so easily?

ecking · 10-02-2007, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aqua OS X

Awesome.

10-01-2007, 07:30 PM	#1
*AppleInsider* Kasper's Automated Slave Join Date: Nov 1997 Posts: 6,159	Steve Jobs trotted out to motivate Yahoo! execs In a move that reportedly resonated well with many of Yahoo's top brass, chief executive Jerry Yang on Friday did his part to revitalize sagging morale at the search giant with an exec-level meeting that included a surprise motivational speech by Steve Jobs as one of its highlights. Yang, who called Jobs one of his "heroes," was admittedly nervous as he sat down to interview the Apple chief amongst some 300+ Yahoo executives who he was hoping to inspire and set forth on a new path towards success and innovation. The basic message that Jobs delivered was that Yahoo -- a company with one of the largest Internet user bases -- can do and achieve anything. Like Apple, he explained, Yahoo retains some incredibly valuable assets, but now must focus on execution. Among the other key focuses of the meeting laid out by Yang and other Yahoo executives were "the building out of Yahoo’s ad network, taking advantage of its 'consumer insights'; the creation of a healthier corporate culture where fresh ideas could bubble up more effectively and be launched with less agony; and a new move to create a more open network a la Facebook on Yahoo for third-party developers to publish on and create more robust offerings." While many were reportedly dubious of the latter and Yahoo's ability to open itself up, the meeting was deemed a resounding success with several of the company's vice presidents returning to their jobs "feeling jazzed up and ready to rumble." [ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

10-01-2007, 07:36 PM	#2
Ireland Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Ireland Posts: 8,561	Slow news day. Collecting my SSD iMac Fry-die. :D

10-01-2007, 08:05 PM	#6
SpamSandwich Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 8,456	I found it very interesting, and I wonder what Google thought about this? "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground." —Thomas Jefferson Proud AAPL stock owner.

10-01-2007, 10:09 PM	#11
fahlman Registered User Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 625	Yahoo Mail Beta Yahoo! can start by allowing Safari users access to their mail beta. NOTICE: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied herein, fahlman cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Unless otherwise indicated, opinions expressed herein are those of fahlman and do not necessarily represent the views of AppleInsider.com

10-02-2007, 06:11 AM	#19
Aqua OS X Registered User Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 46	Van down by the river

10-01-2007, 07:42 PM	#3
TednDi Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Earth Posts: 1,729	Quote ""feeling jazzed up and ready to rumble." DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELO..... oh, wrong steve. sorry.

10-01-2007, 08:06 PM	#7
Dreil Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 14	Activating RDF....

10-02-2007, 08:59 AM	#20
jpellino Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 259	Who loves ya, baby? You guys are great! Yeah, I know your chief competitor's search is hard-coded into our browser's toolbar, and yeah, Eric's on my board, but no, you guys, really, I love you, and you should really keep doing all that great stuff you do. And look! I brought each of you a coupon for a Starbucks' latte!

10-02-2007, 10:31 AM	#22
hankx32 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Philly Posts: 58	regarding yahoo, I feel that their brand logo is dated. Even the name seem a bit misplaced in todays world. Apple maintains an ultra hip presence and aura, among others. The Yahoo logo seems quaint, this includes the basic cosmetic design of there site. I think their content is top notch and services effective. They need to tighten up their design and grow up a bit.

10-02-2007, 01:50 PM	#25
SpamSandwich Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 8,456	Yahoo! has become the new AOL... which means they are in a good position to be purchased at a rock-bottom price by Microsoft or the like... maybe Facebook with search... "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground." —Thomas Jefferson Proud AAPL stock owner.

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