Netizen

Marissa Mayer, Kara Swisher

Image representing Yahoo! as depicted in Crunc...

There is talk that Yahoo managed to announce Mayer's ascendancy to its top spot without Kara Swisher knowing about it beforehand. I think that claim itself establishes Swisher as a top tech journalist. What think you?

Swisher's 10 Questions

Marissa Mayer's Pregnancy

Hillary Rodham Clinton, January 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Marissa Mayer is pregnant. Who knew before yesterday? It is like Bill Clinton became president in 1992 and a big chunk of the media talked often of Hillary Clinton's hair. It is one of those things. I think Hillary carries herself well, but style would not be her number one strength.

I am happy for Marissa Mayer that she is expecting. I know she is very happy about it. And I guess it is a very big deal to be Yahoo CEO. But there seem to be as many headlines about Mayer's pregnancy as her ascendancy to the CEO position. There is a tinge of gender there. She already has been a role model. Now she is to be a bigger role model for women. And one would hope the attention would soon pass on to the wonderful work she has done at Google and what she might be able to do for Yahoo.

People are comparing Yahoo to Apple when Steve Jobs came back in 1997, I believe. There are some legitimate high expectations there, and that perhaps is the bigger story.

Marissa Mayer: Top Search Term At This Blog

Marissa Mayer is the top search term at this blog right now.

Marissa Mayer: Captain Of The Ship

Marissa Mayer (Photo credit: jdlasica)

Everyone and their cousin is giving her advice. I might be running late by about 12 hours, but here goes.

Go slim by 5,000 to 10,000. The faster it is done, better for morale. Cut jobs. Slice and dice. Be done with it.
If you are not number one or two, exit the category. This is coming straight from Jack Welch. He knew.
Take Yahoo Mail to a whole new level. Reimagine it.
Yahoo News is good news. Build community around it.
Go big on mobile. Go big on local. You would know.
Yahoo has a big future in Big Data, the next big thing. This might be one rare way to bring sexiness back to Yahoo. It has hundreds of millions of loyal monthly users, and it collects data on them. Make use of it. This is the oil beneath the sand.
PR is important. Show up for the key events in the industry and talk your talk. You can be a good mascot. Marissa Mayer's got the sexy down pat. Infuse Yahoo with it, inside and out.