David Beach's Blog

Yahoo! Brickhouse Open House

I went to the Brickhouse open house last night. I showed up fashionably late, but things were still rolling. Saw many old friends and a smattering of the usual digerati. It's good to see Brickhouse finally taking shape. Though I think Caterina should be getting more credit for it than she has been. Brickhouse would not exist without Caterina Fake. It's great to see others involved though, and Salim is the perfect choice to drive it, so it will be exciting to see what comes of it.

Oh and San Jose Mercury... It's "Bradley Horowitz" not "David Horowitz". What's up with that?

Speaking of Hacks...

Congrats to my buddy Mike Holzer and his team for winning a Yahoo! Hack Day award for their crazy Shumbee. The Shumbee is a little felty, fuzzy emoticon that you place on your desk. When you change its face or emotion, it also automagically changes your Yahoo! Instant Messenger status. There's a little bluetooth and RFID contraption inside that knows what to do. So now everyone will know you're mood whether they're online or walking by your cube. Very clever and certainly awesome.

Yahoo! As Social Network

I've been mulling this over for a while now and thought I'd put pen to paper, as it were.

Yahoo! has an interesting opportunity to become a giant social network of micro networks. A meta social network of micro social networks? Lord, that's geeky. But I think there's something to this. Yahoo! has all the components, it just doesn't tie them together. Which is typical of Yahoo!.

The components are a huge user base, tons of vertical interest sites, great content, and a basic social network infrastructure. I hope I can explain this as well as I see the pictures in my head...

MyBlogLog is a very light weight version of this concept. It allows people to express affinity for content (blog, site, etc.) by "joining" a community for that site. The problem is that joining the community does absolutely nothing for you. I don't even know to which communities/sites I belong, nor does it matter because I don't get anything out of it. It would be better if MyBlogLog let you participate more inside the community and then pushed content to you from that community. I'm sure those geniuses are working on it.

But let's expand the idea out to Yahoo and beyond. Right now Yahoo! has a very real problem of getting people to sign in and stay signed in. There's not much reason to sign in except to get email and access My Yahoo!. I believe that 30% to 40% of Yahoo traffic is from logged in users. It may actually be less.

So what if we turned on a MyBlogLog/Yahoo! 360 hybrid system that allowed users to express affinity for content and vertical areas, find and collect friends, and share user generated content in any area of the network?

I thought of this because it's almost baseball season (thank God). I found that I wanted to "Add" myself to the Oakland A's page on Yahoo! Sports. By doing so, I would express my affinity to the Oakland A's (Go A's!) and become part of a community of users who also shared my passion for the team.  I would then be able to participate in a discussion in that community. I could also be fed updates from the content of the area and the community through a content stream that would appear in a variety of places including my Yahoo account/profile, phone, email, feed reader, etc.

With me so far? (maybe/maybe not but trust me, this is something)

I think that this could work for almost any area of the site (if not the web). I'd like to join the Yahoo! Nintendo Wii "community", the recipe community, the tech community, and certain categories of news, music, shopping, autos, health, etc. etc. I would even join a search community and a Yahoo! Developer Network community. This would allow me express myself and connect to content and people in an entirely new way.

I would then have a Yahoo! profile page that promoted my affinities, interests, friends, personal content, and reputation from across the network to anyone who visited it. It would let me collect and share my flickr photos, videos I made or enjoy, Yahoo! Answers Q&A, bookmarks or whatever I choose to be public. I would also be able to pull in feeds from other personal sources as well as have a blog. People could send me messages and comment on my profile, if I choose the option.

This profile should include my calendar, links to other profiles that I have across the web, and other information that is pertinent to my online identity. The Yahoo! Profile wouldn't be Y! 360 or embedded into any other vertical... it would just be Yahoo! -- a central hub to everything I do on the network and the web for me to share as I please.

Now MyBlogLog actually does some of this. It provides a way for people to connect themselves to a web site. It also provides a rudimentary commenting system. This is the bare skeleton of the concept.  But it's a long way off.

One of the troubles I've had with Yahoo! is that everything is so contained in each vertical or silo. Each product team reinvents the wheel over and over again when adding community or other social features. You see this over and over again. Answers launches social networking, Tech does blogs and lists, Autos does customization, Shopping does social lists, Local does social lists, travel does social lists, 360 is in its own corner, but very little is connected or even consistent... so on and so forth.

I don't think it would take much physical effort to plug in a social software layer across Yahoo! The pain would be to get everyone to agree and stop building their own apps. Consistency is key, then having a unifying profile page for people to bring together and share their content, activity, and affinity.

Now is the time for Yahoo! to do something this ambitious. Balls out. It would change the perception of the network and give it vitality for years to come. A half-assed attempt to make this work would be a disaster. It needs to be a central component of and a natural addition to the Yahoo! experience.

I hope I see the day this happens.

Yahoo! Should Buy StumbleUpon

To me StumbleUpon is one of those services that has such tremendous potential to be huge... They introduced Stumble Video as well. It's such a simple but amazing service... StumbleUpon fits so well with del.icio.us and MyWeb too. Think about the social search engine they could build with all of that meta data... I know what I'd do with it.

Link: StumbleUpon.

Yahoo! Shaking Up...

It seems my friends at Yahoo! are waiting with baited breath over what might be announced tonight or tomorrow. I'm sure that some of the rumors are true. Dan R. leaving... (maybe to pursue a career in politics? It's possible, and he'd be great at it. I'd vote for him.) Terry leaving. Lloyd leaving (hopefully, the guy seemed Lost... pun intended). Sue taking over more. Fresh CEO. Shut down Yahollywood. 20% reduction...

We shall see.

I haven't commented on the whole peanut butter thing. It's not really my place. But what Brad described in his email touches on most of the reasons why I decided to leave Y!. Even his passion for the company rang true. I've said that my blood runs purple and yellow as well. So I can understand his frustration and his need to express it.

I left because it was very difficult to get anything done. There were way too many hoops and approvals and layers to for me to feel like I could truly innovate. At the same time, few people took responsibility for the problem. I left because it was almost impossible to move up. There was a pervasive insecurity that kept Y! looking outside for leadership instead of inside-- especially at the Director and VP levels. This meant that people at my level were roadblocked. They kept hiring on more layers. I remember being in a QA meeting, trying to launch a product, with my boss's boss's boss. My boss and my boss's boss were there as well. It's a good thing that my direct reports weren't there because time would have stopped and the universe would have collapsed into itself.  Because of these issues and more, many creative, passionate, and driven people have left, or are about to leave. All that will remain are people that think that what they do is "just a job." ... not good.

Just as I'm writing this, the news has come in. At least part of it. Dan R. is leaving. Lloyd is leaving. Terry is staying. They seem to be splitting the COO role into two. Sue taking over all of the money... sales, etc. and they are going to hire someone to run the product. No reductions right now, at least nothing major. I bet there will be more strategic cutting of fat in the senior management level. One can hope anyway.

I don't revel in Yahoo's struggle. I really do love that company. I want them to succeed in every way. I believe in them. But they've lost their focus. I've been saying that for a long time. Long before I ever left.

If for some reason I actually had a say in the direction of the company, it would go something like this:

Stop trying to be everything to everyone. Concentrate on your core products. Search, Mail, News, IM, My Yahoo!, Mobile, and sales/advertising.  Keep profitable vertical properties, but spin them off into their own brands. Please remember, and this is important... Not everything needs to be "Yahoo! this" and "Yahoo! that!" Putting the red Yahoo! in front of the service name does more harm than good, in my opinion. Why?  Because people have a difficult time differentiating services. Because it's more difficult for people to identify with an uber brand. Because people need to hang their hat on that single thing a company/brand does. ie. Google=Search, Ebay=Auctions, Microsoft=Software, Fox=TV, Coca-Cola=Bubbly Beverage, etc. Yes, all of these companies do way more than that one thing, but in order for a brand to succeed, there needs to be an appearance of focus.  I think a good example of this is when Launch turned into Yahoo! Music. Launch was a great brand in the Internet music space... they worked hard to build it. Yahoo! Music? What's that? It would be as if YouTube became Google Video. Or Blogger became Google Blogs. Boooring! Not that these are the best examples, they just came to mind.  Spinning out verticals would foster more innovation and speed up development.

If I had a say, I would want Yahoo! to start thinking like a technology company again. Not an entertainment company. Innovation and being smarter than everyone else is where the action is. Embrace your inner geek again Yahoo!

I also feel that the Yahoo! homepage has rapidly deteriorated over the past 18 months into a sensationalistic mess. I'm not talking about the design, I'm talking about the editorial approach and voice. The page continues to promote lowbrow or ridiculous distractions instead of legitimate information or areas that drive revenue. Britney Spears' cooch, the 9, magic tricks, decorating tips, etc. These "features" distract users from their original intent for visiting the site; either to search, get mail, shop, etc. All of which are optimized for making cash and depend on the homepage to drive their business. Plus, last I heard, there was a war going on.

I think that's all I have to say right now. I need to drive home to Santa Cruz. Y! will be better for these changes and this time of self reflection. The new year is around the corner, it's a good time to reboot.

At Yahoo! Hack Day

I'm at Yahoo's open Hack Day this morning. I'm sitting in a presentation by Andy Baio about offline community.

It's been very good and strange coming back to Y! again. The great thing is seeing all the familar faces. Yahoo! has some amazing people.

I'm not sure how long I'll be here today. Nor do I know how I'll contribute. But I'm available. If anyone needs any UI help. I can pitch in.

Andy is talking about HAM radio from the 40's and 50's right now. They were all over the world, but started to get together and meet. Great way to start to talk about the meetup.

more later...

Yahoo! Hack Day is Coming!

Yahoo's going big with the next Hack Day! Right on!

Check it out...

Link: Yahoo! Hack Day is Coming!.

The Final Days

Friday was my last day at Y!. The last few days were unusual to say the least. I put so much of myself into that place. Yahoo! became part of my identity. It's odd to think that's no longer.

I had a dream last night that I needed to get into a yahoo building. I tried to use my badge, but it didn't work. Someone else let me in. I was a visitor.

Friday started with me picking up John from Y! Search to carpool in. We had a good conversation about working there; he came over from Inktomi after the acquisition.

I then hung out with Billy and Sasha in "Dots" (the cafeteria) to watch the end of the first 90 minutes of the Germany/Argentina match.

Once at my cube, I began to get things in order. I sent out some final instructional email, packed my cube and threw out a bunch of stuff.  Sasha bought me lunch and we just chilled. I ate my final Mexican fandango, which is a mish mash of rice, black beans, guacamole, salsa, tomatoes and peppers.

Later, I sent the "farewell" email, cleaned up my laptops, and handed them over along with my corporate AMEX, phone card, and ID.

At 3:00 I loaded up my car with the boxes of crap that I've accumulated over the years. I really wish that there was an open 5th floor window and a dumpster below. That would have been more efficient, let alone enjoyable.

After all that was done, I headed over to the Mexicali Grill for a very cool send off from my friends and colleagues. I had a great time. But it was difficult to say goodbye. Yahoo! Shopping really does have the best people.

Joe Laz gave me an elephant shit notebook which made my day.

Now it's Sunday and I'm excited to start at Wink tomorrow. I'm thrilled about this opportunity and can't wait to get my hands dirty. I'll be writing about the transition and the goings on at this very cool and dynamic start-up as we change the way people search forever...

Leaving Yahoo!

Well it's out there. Here and here. Honestly I thought that if I ever got "valleywagged," it would have been about some possible exploits in Bangkok that may or may not have taken place in the summer of 1988. 

Yes it's true. I'm leaving Yahoo! to join social search pioneers Wink. I will be Director of Product Management. After 5 years at the big Y!, all in Yahoo! Shopping, it was time for a change. I did some looking around within Yahoo! over the past year, but there just wasn't the kind of opportunity that Wink is providing.

I'm really looking forward to being in a start-up environment, working fast, taking risks, and learning what's up in that world today... meeting new people, working hard, and sharing my experience with a new team.

Wink is an ideal fit for me. They are leading the way with social search--something that I'm very passionate about-- and have an independent spirit that I admire. That's why I have called them (and others) an "indie search engine."  Much like an indie record label, they can capitalize on trends at a faster pace to maximize growth. They can build a following that can take the big boys by surprise.

Anyhoo, I'll write more about all this later. I just want to say that my time here at Yahoo! has been invaluable. I've worked with some of the best people in the business. I love Yahoo! and believe in it as a company. Thanks to Ben for taking a chance on a scruffy, pierced, goateed guy 5 years ago. And thanks to my current Y! Shopping team for helping me with everything I've learned.

More later...

Yahoo! Shopping Blog

We launched the Yahoo! Shopping Blog today. Yup! It's funny, I couldn't say anything last week about it as we were going into alpha. The timing of Brian Smith's post was curious; I'm going to have to ask him about who he knows at Yahoo! This is a bit different from the other Yahoo! Search and Marketplace blogs. First, we're using our own tool called the Expert Publishing Tool to create and maintain it. This is the same tool used for the Kevin Sites Hot Zone blog among others. We've also created this for the consumer, not press and analysts.

A blog written for the folks that actually use our service, imagine that!

We have millions of products from thousands of merchants and we felt it was time for us to start talking about them... one a time. We'll be digging up unique and cool stuff, deals, coupons, sales, and features and dishing them out every day.

It's a simple experience right now because we wanted the focus to be the posts. We'll be adding more features and design elements when it makes sense to do so.

A Yahoo! Shopping blog is something that I've wanted to do for over a year now, it just makes sense. We should always embrace new and simple ways to communicate with our customers. It shouldn't be that big of a deal really, it's just a bunch of words and images right? Perhaps, but I still think that making that leap might be difficult for some. I can imagine that folks might think that it exposes them too much, or that it's their place to provide a service and not express ideas or opinions. That may be true but the casual connection and friendly expression that a blog allows you to present will become expected more and more over time. The blogging vernacular and environment will just be the way it is...