Blake Irving

News Byte

Yahoo Product Org Changes Now Taking a Backseat to Company-Wide Restructuring (Memo!)

Kara Swisher in News on March 15 at 2:15 pm PT

In a memo to his staff today, Yahoo’s Chief Product Officer Blake Irving said that the major planned changes he was making to the unit, which I reported about here, were going to get tabled. That’s due to the larger restructuring being done by CEO Scott Thompson, which he communicated to staffers about yesterday in yet another memo. “We have a bias toward action in Products and expected that our new org design would be in place well before any corporate changes took place,” said Irving, in part, from the email I nabbed. “However, it is clear now that the two efforts are starting to run in parallel, and making Product org changes prior to corporate changes no longer makes sense.”

News Byte

Yahoo Loses Another Exec (I Know, Déjà Vu!)

Kara Swisher in News on March 8 at 11:18 am PT

These kinds of exec departures are definitely going to get to be more regular as Yahoo’s restructuring looms, so here is today’s adieu: Luis Salazar, VP of global product marketing and business development. He’s well-regarded at the company, and came last year as part of the former Microsoft influx under Chief Product Officer Blake Irving, as did also-departing SVP of product management Bill Shaughnessy. Bye, Luis!

News Byte

Exclusive: High-Ranking Yahoo Product Exec Shaughnessy Departs

Kara Swisher in News on March 7 at 8:35 am PT

Bill Shaughnessy, who is Yahoo’s SVP of product management, is leaving the company, according to an internal memo he sent out this morning to staff. The former Microsoft exec came to the Silicon Valley Internet giant in mid-2010, part of the team assembled by Chief Product Officer Blake Irving. It’s not clear why Shaughnessy has left now, but Yahoo is about to undergo a major restructuring under new CEO Scott Thompson.