Been There. Done That.

I have a penchant for business case studies. Here’s a great one on how Yahoo blew it:

How Yahoo Blew It

I particular liked the statement about Terry Semel “never acquired an intuitive sense of the company’s plumbing.” To lead a bottom-up company, a leader must have some sense of the company’s operations. Without this s/he will be unable to ask the right questions or set any meaningful direction for the company.

The closing statement is also dead on:

At Yahoo, the marketers rule, and at Google the engineers rule.

Another way of stating this is Yahoo is a top-down company and Google is bottom-up company.

If you’re interested in learninb more about bottom-up principles, be sure to check out the classic Bottom-Up Marketing book by Al Ries and Jack Trout.