Well that’s the prediction at All Things D. With $4 billion from the AliBaba sale, a desire to turn things around, and a company in desperate need of not being a disaster, this seems like a good way for Marissa Mayer to go.
It’s not like Yahoo hasn’t bought things before. However, I think at this time this is extremely logical – and something to watch for.
Yahoo can’t survive being Google light. Yahoo has been squeezed in a lot of spaces. What it can do is buy other companies, innovate internally, and cut projects/sell off projects that aren’t working. The first two seem to be Mayer’s MO especially, and I’m sure no one at Yahoo will have trouble with the latter.
Besides, if action happens around Yahoo the board and stockholders will probably be pretty happy since something is happening. So I don’t expect them to get antsy.
Regarding innovating internally, I’m sure that’ll happen. Mayer was involved in a lot of projects at Yahoo that are well regarded, including Gmail. I hear good buzz here in the valley. But as for buying . . .
It’s actually a perfect time. VC is a bit of an erratic game, I’m sure IPOs don’t look as appealing after Facebook and Zynga. There’s also legions of smart, innovative, and interesting companies out there, and it’s a time of change and transition.
So what does this mean for you?
If you’re at a likely buyout target (and I confess figuring out what that may be is a bit of a poster), keep an eye on the situation, you may be surprised.
Target or not, see what Yahoo does purchase, as we can probably discern a strategy from it. That can give you an idea of what may happen to you, to them, and new opportunities.
A riches-to-rags-to-riches story with Yahoo could be a kick in the pants to IT, and bring investors and money further forward to other companies. WIll it be wisely invested is another question, but hey . . .
Yahoo tossing money around and evolving and changing will probably upset and disturb a few competitors (which we won’t necessarily be able to identify until we see what they’re up to). Yahoo may disrupt a few strategies.
So a lot of money to toss around. What’s going to happen . . .
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/