Yahoo's Mayer Can Learn From Steve Jobs

　　It is a rare tech company that can make a comeback.
　　And it's nearly impossible for an Internet company. It may take a while, but when it looks like the innovation is gone and the geeks in Silicon Valley declare you are done, they're usually right.

　　The two most impressive tech turnarounds in the last two decades have been at International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Apple Inc. (AAPL), previously known mostly as computer makers.

　　But among Internet companies, there are more dead than survivors. Take note, Yahoo Inc. (YHOO).

　　So Marissa Mayer, formerly a well-regarded Google Inc. (GOOG) executive, is facing an imposing challenge as Yahoo's chief executive. She lacks CEO experience and will be working under a microscope as she tries to save Yahoo and its tattered brand.

　　Because Mayer can't consult with the late Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, who orchestrated one of the greatest turnarounds in the Valley, we have compiled a few tips that might help.

　　1) Review all of Yahoo's product lines with a brutal and unsentimental eye. And don't be afraid to kill products that are not profitable or have too long a horizon to become something. Time is of the essence. Upon returning to the company in 1997, Jobs narrowed Apple's focus to four product areas: consumer, professional, desktop, portable, before eventually embarking on new arenas, such as digital music, smartphones and tablets.

　　2) After getting Yahoo focused on its core strengths, unleash a marketing campaign to tell consumers and partners about them. For years, each new Yahoo CEO has had a muddled answer to what Yahoo really is. If Mayer can determine how to truly enunciate Yahoo's mission, she might want to develop an ad campaign that would resonate with consumers, much like Apple's "Think Different" ads told people what Apple was all about, without showing a single product.

　　And don't fall into the trap that former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Carly Fiorina did, by putting herself in the ads, a major misfire. The mantra of re-invention at H-P was marred when Fiorina became the face of an ad campaign, speaking in front of a mock-up of the fabled H-P garage, a move that was widely derided in the Valley.

　　3) Stop the leaks from inside Yahoo. Jobs was known for endorsing the view that "loose lips sink ships" and fostered a culture of super secrecy, often firing those who spoke to the press out of turn. While we in the media love leakers, this can be viewed as an act of disloyalty and it can also be a way to find out who isn't on your side.

4) Go with your gut instincts, as Jobs always did. Perhaps that will lead to a re-evaluation of the cluttered Yahoo home page. Even though the company has gone through a few redesigns, Yahoo.com still looks as messy as ever. Mayer's focus on user interface and the influence of Google's clean look will hopefully spill over to Yahoo.

　　While she is taking stock of the home page, she should get rid of some of the site's horrible content. One small idea would be to replace some of Yahoo's celebrity fawning omg! content with sharper, snarkier writers, such as the popular bloggers Tom and Lorenzo, for example.

　　5) Find some stars within Yahoo and get them to stay. Find others from outside and recruit them. Just as Jobs persuaded star designer Jony Ive to stay at Apple and recruited Tim Cook to be its operations chief, Mayer needs to find the star engineers, web designers and algorithm geeks inside Yahoo, and persuade new recruits to believe in the mission. And from there, hopefully product innovation will occur.

　　While Mayer has a few things on her side, such as her engineering background, her achievements at Google and her product-management skills, Mayer has never run a big company. It's going to be a tough job.

　　But she has a chance in a lifetime to reinvigorate a company that many are still rooting for. Perhaps she can take parts of Jobs's recipes at Apple, and make them her own.

　　Write to Therese Poletti at [email protected]

雅虎新CEO该向乔布斯学几招 ~ ~ 反思、专注、保密、直觉、招贤

　　这是一种罕见的高科技公司，可以东山再起。和它的互联网公司几乎不可能。这可能需要一段时间，但它看起来像创新了，在硅谷的怪才宣布你做，它们通常是正确的。

　　在国际商业机器公司(IBM)和苹果电脑(AAPL)以前被称为电脑厂商大多已经在过去二十年中最令人印象深刻的两个高科技周转。但是在互联网公司中，有超过幸存者死亡。注意，雅虎(YHOO)。

　　所以经理Marissa Mayer，前身是一个公认的谷歌执行，正面临着雅虎首席执行官施加的挑战。她缺乏的CEO经验，并在显微镜下将工作，她试图挽救雅虎和破烂的品牌。

　　因为梅耶不能协商与已故的苹果联合创始人史蒂夫·乔布斯，谁策划在硅谷最大的周转，我们已编制了一些提示，可以帮助。

　　1) 审查所有与雅虎的产品线，一个残酷无情的眼睛。和不害怕杀产品不盈利或有太长了地平线成为东西。时间是至关重要的。归来后，该公司于1997年，乔布斯缩小到四个产品领域：消费，专业，台式，便携式，才最终走上新的领域，如数字音乐，智能手机和片剂，苹果的重点。

　　2) 雅虎专注于核心优势，发动营销攻势后，告诉消费者和他们的合作伙伴。多年来，每一个新的雅虎CEO雅虎真的是什么有一个糊涂的答案。如果迈耶能够确定如何真正阐明雅虎的使命，她可能要发展一个广告活动，将与消费者产生共鸣，很像苹果的“思考不同的”广告告诉人们，没有表现出一个单一的产品，苹果是所有关于。并没有落入陷阱，前惠普公司首席执行官卡莉·菲奥里纳，把自己的广告，主要失火。惠普重新发明的口头禅已被破坏时，菲奥莉娜成为一个广告活动，模拟了传说中的HP车库前发言，一个被广泛嘲笑的举动在硅谷的脸。

　　3) 停止从雅虎内部的泄漏。赞同的观点，乔布斯被称为“言多必失”，树立了一个超级秘密的文化，往往射击发言回合记者。虽然我们在媒体上爱泄密，这可以看作是一个不忠的行为，它也可以是一种方法来找出谁是不是就在你身边。

　　4) 转到与自己的直觉，因为乔布斯总是做。也许，这将导致一个混乱的雅虎主页的重新评估。尽管该公司已经通过了一些重新设计，Yahoo.com看起来仍然如以往一样凌乱。

　　Mayer的用户界面和谷歌的干净的外观影响的重点将有望波及到雅虎。虽然她正在股票的主页，她应该得到摆脱一些网站的可怕的内容。一个小的想法是，以取代雅虎的名人摇尾乞怜OMG! 用清晰，snarkier作家，如流行的博客汤姆和Lorenzo例如，内容。

　　5) 在雅虎找到一些明星，并让他们留下来。从外面的人，并聘请他们。正如乔布斯说服明星设计师Jony伊夫留在苹果和招募蒂姆·库克是其业务主管，梅耶需要找到明星工程师，网页设计师和雅虎内部的算法怪才，说服新入职的，相信在使命。并从那里，希望产品创新将发生。虽然梅耶有几件事情，像她这样的工程背景，在她的身边，她的成绩在谷歌和她的产品管理技能，梅耶从未运行的大公司。这将是一项艰巨的任务。

　　但她有一个千载难逢的机会，很多人都仍然生根重振公司。也许她可以在苹果公司的乔布斯的食谱部分，并让他们自己。