Yahoo - Can We Get a Few Adults in Here Please?
After days of rumors about potential layoffs of 1,500 or more people at Yahoo, today comes word from "insiders" via the New York Times that the layoffs will be smaller than had been rumored.
Now, that may be a good thing, but it seems that the team at Yahoo just can't get out of their own way. Let's assume that the layoffs number around 400-500. That might be the right number, but you can be sure that Wall Street will beat the stock up when it's announced because the market had been primed to see a bigger number.
My old boss frequently used the expression "let's get a few adults in here" to deal with tough turnaround situations. By adults, he wasn't referring to age. Instead, he wanted people who were a bit savvy and had been through similar situations in the past.
Managing expectations is Investor Relations 101. By allowing the rumors to get ahead of the story, they've set themselves up to get beat up by the market even if reporting good news. While Jerry Yang might be the right guy to run the show there (and his 100 days have come and gone without any validation of that premise), he really needs to surround himself with a few "adults" who have been there before.
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