Yahoos Rally: Beware Sticky Peanut Butter Tales
Everyone and their blogging uncle is touting he/she knows what is REALLY going on with Yahoo! REALLY? Given that it is a rare writer–old media or new–with the guts to quote any Yahoo! directly, the gab fest is but an amalgam of posturing, innuendo and andectotal one upmanship “citing” anonymous “people familiar with the situation” (WSJ).
Last week, A VC affirmed HE knew exactly how Yahooi! execs feel about the Microsoft situation. Today, Boomtown assures SHE knows where Yahoos! stand on the situation. How can two, third party individuals outside of the Yahoo corporation be so certain that THEY have the handle on the truth about the thousands of Yahoos? Simple: Each claims to have spoken to a handful of Yahoo employees, off the record, of course.
KARA SWISHER: Of course, many Yahoo employees are going to be thrilled with this show of strength. This past week, many had told me the big problem with Yahoo was that its leadership did not inspire them enough with visionary goals of big wins.
“They are so plodding, it creates no excitement to work for anything great,” said one employee to me, expressing a common sentiment. “So you just work 9-to-5 and collect your salary.”
Well, sticking it to Microsoft should certainly crank the excitement factor up to the max.
Sorry, Kara, I experienced Yahoo! excitement first hand this week, for the company and even for Jerry Yang, and I will name MY source: Paul Cushman, Director of Sales, Mobile.
Speaking on the “Titans” panel at the OMMA Mobile conference in New York City Thursday, Cushman underscored his appreciation for the executive level Yahoo! Mobile vision and support, citing Yang’s CES keynote. In the field, a Yahoo! in attendance expressed her confidence to me in Yahoo! management to do the right thing for the company and its employees.
What’s more, Cushman shared his disdain for Google (search), NOT Microsoft (hug), hailing, “The last thing I want on my mobile device is millions of Google results.”
(ALSO SEE: MOBILE Visions? Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL Open Up: NOT Google! OMMA Report)
Fred Wilson also cites “a lot” of people inside Yahoo to affrim that he knows what Yahoos really want to do. What DO Yahoos really want according to the “A VC”s playbook? To “run their services the way that the CEOs of Union Square Ventures run their businesses”!
How uplifting? Yahoo disdain is to be reborn as Wilson’s own Union Square Ventures love! NOT REALLY–SEE MY REBUTTAL: Is Union Square Ventures Changing Exit Strategies?
Moral of the Yahoo! blogging story: Beware sticky peanut butter tales.
ALSO: Yahoo: Beware Google AND Embrace Microsoft! and Microsoft’s Yahoo Bid a Winner: Google Running Scared! and Henry Blodget Tech Ticker Puts Yahoo Finance at SEC Risk
MORE: How Web 2.0 Meetups Displaced the New York Software Industry and Why Silicon Alley VCs Should Do Blogging Due Diligence, Too and Fast Company Social Media Revolution NOT Off to the Races
UPDATE: Yahoo Refugees? Hillary Clinton To Restore American Dream for Silicon Valley