Peanut Butter Manifesto

RIM Workers Respond to ‘BlackBerry Jam Manifesto’

Ina Fried in News on July 1, 2011 at 7:48 am PT

Current and former Research In Motion employees are offering their two cents after an anonymous worker’s manifesto of all that ails the company was posted on Thursday to Boy Genius Report. RIM publicly brushed off the first letter, but will any of the comments be taken to heart?

RIM Gets Its “Peanut Butter Manifesto” as Employee Rails About Internal Woes

Ina Fried in Mobile on June 30, 2011 at 8:45 am PT

Back in 2006, then-Yahoo executive Brad Garlinghouse wrote the now infamous Peanut Butter Manifesto detailing the internal issues that ailed the company. Now, Research In Motion is having its Skippy moment.

AOL's Stock Might Be Cold, but Its New Silicon Valley HQ Is Pretty Cool (Video)

Kara Swisher in News on April 27, 2011 at 7:08 am PT

Earlier this week, BoomTown took the All Things Digital minivan for a spin down to see the new Silicon Valley digs of AOL. The Palo Alto, Calif., office is helmed by former Yahoo exec Brad “Peanut Butter Manifesto” Garlinghouse, who also turned out to be a very entertaining tour guide.

Peanut Butter Manifesto Author: You've Got Mail, With Fewer Ads

Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on December 10, 2009 at 12:47 pm PT

Brad Garlinghouse is known for the so-called Peanut Butter Manifesto he penned at Yahoo, in which he argued that the company spread itself too thin. Mr. Garlinghouse joined AOL earlier this year, and on Thursday, as the company completed its spinoff and began trading, he fired off another memo, this time promising AOL mail customers that change is coming:

The Yahoo Management Structure: Who Is In and Who Is Out?

Kara Swisher in News on February 23, 2009 at 7:30 am PT

On Friday, BoomTown first reported that new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is likely to be announcing a sweeping new management structure soon, which can only mean the possibility that some existing top execs are likely to be broomed out, even as some new ones are ushered in. “This is going to be a full-scale peanut butter recall,” joked one exec, referring to the infamous “Peanut Butter Manifesto,” which was sent around the company several years ago by former exec Brad Garlinghouse. It laid bare the problems at Yahoo, most especially a decided lack of decision-making and lugubrious levels of managers. Here is the sticky skinny.

The Past Is Prologue: Carol Bartz and Autodesk in 1992=Yahoo Now

Kara Swisher in News on January 14, 2009 at 12:30 am PT

Here is a story, in full, by the always terrific G. Pascal Zachary, which appeared in The Wall Street Journal in 1992, about the newly hired CEO Carol Bartz and the “theocracy of hackers” at then-wacky Autodesk. Three guesses about who eventually won that battle, and the first two don’t count. Fast-forward to 2008, with Bartz now taking up the difficult reins of Yahoo, which is a little more behaved than Autodesk was then, but still a handful. Déjà vu anyone?

A Garlinghouse Memorial: BoomTown Decodes the Infamous "Peanut Butter Manifesto"

Kara Swisher in News on June 27, 2008 at 6:53 am PT

Now that he’s officially–well, Yahoo has not said so, but it is so–leaving the company this later summer, what say we blame Brad Garlinghouse for all the woes of Yahoo! After all, Garlinghouse’s infamous “Peanut Butter Manifesto” was the key Ur-moment that one could point to as the one in which the curtains were pulled back at the troubled Internet company to reveal, well, a very sticky mess. The 2006 internal document, penned by the Yahoo senior vice president, essentially unfairly impugned delicious peanut butter by using it as a metaphor for Yahoo spreading its resources too thinly. So, as a memorial to the Garlinghouse era, BoomTown decodes the manifesto.

More on Yahoo's Reorg: Dietzen Is Garlinghouse Replacement

Kara Swisher in News on June 26, 2008 at 9:43 am PT

As BoomTown reported last night, the Yahoo reorganization will be unveiled later this morning, with the slate of execs that this column outlined last week in its gory–oops, I mean, glorious–detail. Sources said a more substantial public announcement has been pushed by Yahoo’s board–apparently, an internal email to employees was considered too–to show Yahoo’s new team and that the company still has a strong bench, despite a lot of exec departures of late. Some more news: Yahoo will name Scott Dietzen to take over the job of SVP Brad Garlinghouse, running all communications and community properties and products under Patel.

Is Yahoo's Peanut Butter Man Toast?

Kara Swisher in News on June 19, 2008 at 4:14 pm PT

Oh, BoomTown had to say it, didn’t I? But, as SVP Brad Garlinghouse’s fate is still uncertain at Yahoo, his edge-of-your-seat situation is the latest wrenching dramatic shift at a company that can’t seem to stop producing them. While reports say he has quit, Garlinghouse actually has not done that yet and will not likely make a definitive move to leave for a week, unlike fellow Yahoo SVPs Qi Lu and Vish Makhijani, who have tendered their resignations this week.

Qi Lu Departure a "Blow" to Yahoo; Makhijani Out Too, Garlinghouse Not Quite Yet

Kara Swisher in News on June 19, 2008 at 1:49 pm PT

As BoomTown reported earlier today, well-regarded top Yahoo techie Qi Lu will be leaving, in a move to be announced today or tomorrow by the troubled Internet company. One Yahoo insider, who characterized Lu as a “rock star” and highly regarded, said the departure was a “blow” that will be devastating to the engineering organization at Yahoo. It also looks as though the departure of Search SVP Vish Makhijani will also be announced today or tomorrow, although the fate of Brad Garlinghouse, the SVP who heads communications and communities, is still undetermined but precarious.