Yahoo the tech company, with its Silicon Valley heritage and credibility, operates far differently than Yahoo the media company in ego-filled Santa Monica.
One can’t imagine anyone at Yahoo’s Sunnyvale headquarters sending out an email demanding, in all caps, that a car be removed from someone’s personal parking space, lest it be towed.
The Los Angeles Times reported that did happen in Santa Monica. The differences show the stark contrasts between the bright-light business of Hollywood versus the “leet” accomplishments of hyperfocused geeks:
In Sunnyvale, it’s “a cubicle society,” said a person close to Yahoo, referring to the willingness of people at all levels to work in cramped workstations. Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from Yahoo, this person said the Santa Monica office, by contrast, was about ” ‘How big is my office? Where is my parking spot? You report to me. I don’t need to talk to you.’ It’s very much the studio hierarchy mentality.”
Does Yahoo suffer a bit of schizophrenia? Suzuki wrote about duality in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, and Yahoo at least seems to be two companies at once:
“We’re often asked, ‘Is Yahoo a media company or a tech company?’ said Jeff Weiner, a Yahoo senior vice president and former Warner Bros. executive who runs the search and marketplace groups. “The answer to that is: ‘We’re both. We’re a media business that is technology driven.'”
In bringing on long-time Hollywood insider Terry Semel as CEO, Yahoo has found someone who can merge his inner executive with the potential of technology. Yahoo has brought in nearly $4 billion in revenue in 2005, and his arrival on the job saw the company focus on search first.
Now it has expanded more into media, bringing Lloyd Braun into the fold and giving him the Santa Monica offices as his fiefdom. He and Semel could be the keys to beating Google to getting access to Hollywood and its content.
Unless, of course, parking continues to be a problem.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
