I just found the email that detailed the re-org at Yahoo! from Sue Decker, head of the new Advertiser & Publisher Group. It’s posted at Techcrunch:
Text of Email to all Yahoos, Techcrunch
I have been out of Yahoo! since Sept 2004, and in 2+ short years, I see:
* Lots of EVPs and SVPs. They used to make you run the gauntlet before making even VP.
* I only recognize about 6 names in the email out of about 15. The influx of new people is staggering at the higher levels. Where did all the people I knew go?
* The company is organizing in a very “large company” way. The changes were in the making while I was still there, but now they are extended more.
* Valleywag’s post about slightly less kneeling before Zod is a bit cutting, but it does make a point. I am not sure that splitting engineering (and by the way I heard through the grapevine that my old user experience group is reporting into the product teams now too) is going to be good for the company in the long term.
To me, companies always undergo cycles; they try things, they work or don’t work, and then they go back to try old things, and then they work/don’t work, and then you’re back to trying stuff you tried before. I suppose it’s one way to keep the world off balance to distract you from other possible issues with the company.