

Yahoo's CEO Carol Bartz tells Michael Arrington to F-off - anderzole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq4A1uCQ1w0

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mkramlich
Every once in a while it's good to see the professional Talking Heads get
called out for being talkers and not doers.

On a related note, I've noticed that many people think that if a business
isn't #1 or #2 within a given field or market, that it somehow sucks. It could
in reality be doing a number of things well, but especially within the
professional media they like to make extreme characterizations rather than
more nuanced and accurate descriptions. Third place is not last place. Not all
companies have to be the "best", partly because not even everybody can agree
on exactly what "best" means. Is Yahoo kicking butt in the same way and to the
same degree that Apple and Google are? Probably not. Have they made a more
substantive contribution to the Web so far than Arrington's company? Probably
so. I think this contrast is in part what made Bartz mad.

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jrockway
I hate to say this... but as more people start to hate Arrington, I think I am
starting to like him. Techcrunch doesn't bother me as much as it used to.

Am I the only one?

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robotkad
Anyone know the context of this?

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Magneus
Sadly, no. I was at this conference, but I missed this.

Update: This link from the video explains it all.

[http://zennie2005.blogspot.com/2010/05/yahoos-ceo-carol-
bart...](http://zennie2005.blogspot.com/2010/05/yahoos-ceo-carol-bartz-tells-
michael.html)

To set the stage, Arrington was pressing Bartz on the idea that the best
companies are often "single-revenue-source" producers, and was implying that
Yahoo, by getting away from search to his view, was moving away from what
could work for the company. While asserting that Yahoo! is still a search
company, Bartz disagreed, pointing to successful firms that were
conglomerates.

Then Bartz seemed to think that Arrington was saying that because Yahoo! had
not created a device they were not innovative and lacked direction. Bartz then
focused on his "tiny company," saying that even with a firm as small as his,
he didn't always know what direction he was going in. "So don't give me crap
about what the fine people of Yahoo! are supposed to do, so F-off."

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rokhayakebe
Then she sealed it with "I mean that one".

It was not meant to be mean, and to be frank Mike really deserved it. He kept
giving her a hard time and asking questions not just to get to know what she
has in mind, but to ridicule her.

