Jeez, this whole interweb thing sure is powerful 
When I wrote that post last night (with Kevin standing over my shoulder), I had no idea it would blow up like *this*. I really didn’t have any ulterior motives at the time, I was just so incensed reading all the punditry (as wrong as some of the bloggers are getting things, it’s the commenters who really piss me off) that I felt compelled to speak out.
So now that my day of Internet celebrity is coming to a close, I thought I would preserve some of my favorite moments for posterity:
- Making the top story on Techmeme (pictured), and Ian‘s comment: “i think that’s the first time i’ve seen a 360 post make techmeme”
- Nick Denton defending Valleywag from accusations of ripping off GigaOm by commenting “Hey, we read Strauss’ blog too!”
- Thomas Hawk commenting “Yahoo! needs more fire in the belly people like Strauss.”
But, what I’m truly happiest about is all the positive feedback I’ve received from current and former Yahoos and people not even affiliated with the company. With the critics being so vocal of late, I’m glad to see that there are still some fans around. And I hope more of them will start to speak up.
Ok, now back to my normal ramblings that no one else generally cares about (and sticking to my usual rule of not blogging about work-related matters).
I just have to chime in here…
IMHO Yahoo! has the right experience, right assets and the right user base to knock Google off the top of the mountain. It is simply a mater of putting the competition in the cross-hairs and focused execution. Example of Yahoo! properties that rock are Yahoo! Widgets and Delicious. I am looking for Yahoo! to more effectively leverage these assets that have engaged, creative thought-leader users.
One mistake Yahoo! needs to avoid is under-estimating the potential of RSS. The technology is powerful and stable and has not yet achieved critical mass among main-stream users. Break this into critical mass adoption rates and achieve something noteworthy and brand-value building. Just because no one else has been able to accomplish this is no reason to ignore an opportunity with this much potential. Why should you be the ones kicking yourselves when someone else gets there.
One additional observation. Instead of viewing your existing user-base through an internal-to-Yahoo! backwards compatibility lens, help your user base see the internet through a potentiality lens. This can only be achieved through effective internal leadership. Facets to be managed include organizational structure, education and training, compensation/reward systems and division specific missions. Just my 2 cent donation to an organization I have high hopes for.