10 posts and columns on Bain & Co.

Meet the VCs: Accel Partners' Kevin Efrusy

in News on March 22, 2010 at 9:17 am PT

BoomTown runs into venture capitalists all the time in Silicon Valley and elsewhere and usually tries to run the other way. Not so last week, when I enjoyed a lovely lunch and chat with Accel Partners’ Kevin Efrusy, the former entrepreneur and techie who is making a lot of investments in both the social consumer space and the enterprise arena. Here’s the video.

Another Googler Goes to AOL: YouTube Boss Dave Eun Replaces Bill Wilson as Content Boss

in Media on February 4, 2010 at 11:46 am PT

Former Google sales boss Tim Armstrong has brought a slew of former colleagues with him to AOL, but this may be his highest-profile hire so far: Dave Eun, who has been in charge of content deals at Google and YouTube, will replace Bill Wilson, one of the last high-profile AOL guys from the pre-Armstrong era.

Jerry Yang's Complete Memo to the Yahoo Troops About Layoffs

in News on October 21, 2008 at 2:59 pm PT

Along with its third-quarter results released today, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang sent a memo to Yahoo’s staff about the streamlining the company would be undertaking. That would be about 1,400 to 1,500 employees, or 10 percent of Yahoo’s global workforce. As usual, his kindergarten punctuation was in full force, despite the sad tone of the missive. At least, Yang is consistent. Here’s the memo.

Yahoo to Start Bleeding Purple

in News on October 20, 2008 at 9:45 am PT

Getting Fit With Jerry Yang, Redux

in News on October 20, 2008 at 5:31 am PT

The new fitness program to which Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang referred in his last all-hands memo to employees is expected to begin Tuesday. Yahoo is to report quarterly earnings tomorrow and it will announce layoffs along with them. Clearly, those Bain & Company “personal trainers” Yahoo recently hired to help it trim down and shape up are already working their magic.

What Yahoo's Looming Costs Cuts Actually Mean (Not as Many Layoffs as You Think)

in News on October 17, 2008 at 3:39 pm PT

A lot has been written about the need for drastic layoffs at Yahoo, including reports that the troubled company was laying off from 3,000 to 3,500 of its 15,000 employees. As dramatic as that figure is, according to numerous sources, it’s more likely that Yahoo will cut only half that, beginning sometime in mid-December. Why? Well, because what Yahoo’s top brass has already done is given its managers cost-cutting targets and not specific marching orders on laying off a certain number of people across the board. Thus, cuts could be made to programs, projects and other things, as well as staff.

Yahoo: Start Bleeding Purple

in News on September 25, 2008 at 12:00 pm PT

Can Meg Whitman Turn Around California?

in News on September 25, 2008 at 6:37 am PT

Having been passed over as the running mate on the Republican presidential ticket, former eBay Inc. chief executive Meg Whitman seems to have now set her sights on the California state capitol. Call it Meg 2.0.

BoomTown Decodes Jerry Yang's Here-Comes-the-Weasel-Consultants Memo (So You Don't Have To!)

in News on September 25, 2008 at 6:16 am PT

Oh, this is just too good to pass up, so it is once again time for BoomTown to let you know exactly what Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang actually meant in his internal memo to employees about the hiring of Bain & Company to evaluate its troubled business systems. Jerry wrote: yahoos, it’s time for another update. Translation: Yep! Still no adult punctuation! We might continue to face serious big-boy issues at the company, but we refuse to give in on our insistence on kindergarten spelling patterns. In that vein, would you like a nice cold glass of chocolate milk before I get to the bad news?

Getting Fit With Jerry Yang!

in News on September 24, 2008 at 12:42 pm PT

In the Grand List of asinine corporate layoff euphemisms, “getting fit” has to be one of the greatest. More so because it’s the one chosen by Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang in his latest all-hands message to employees–a missive announcing the company’s plans to bring in management consulting outfit Bain & Company to help it trim down and shape up.