I chuckled when I read Kara Swisher's article on Yahoo's potential takeover plans for Groupon. Hey Yahoo, why would you spend $2 billion on a fad with few barriers to entry? If Yahoo had any initiative, they could easily start a Groupon clone themselves but they're not innovative like that. Yahoo is like one of those lumbering giants that lost its zest for life in the last decade and now gets by with the scraps. Google ate Yahoo's breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Kara's article also brought up memories of the rumors that Yahoo was going to take over Facebook for about $1.5 billion a few years ago. Facebook's market valuation is now higher than Yahoo's based on trading on SecondMarket. Ironic ain't it? The sad thing is, if Yahoo had taken over Facebook, they would have ruined it. Yahoo has a lackadaisical and middling corporate culture. I know this because I am friendly with a project manager there who left the company for greener pastures. I thought Yahoo was out of their facking minds when they turned down Microsoft's takeover offer a few years ago. Since that tragic episode, Yahoo's shares have tumbled about 50% and have flatlined for the past year.
What would be my advice to Yahoo? Sell. Sell yourself to someone who's hungry and has ambition. As it is right now, Yahoo is a comfortable calf who's content to sit idly by while younger, leaner, and hungrier companies gobble up market share and become the next titans of the internet.
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