Jason Abbruzzese says, “”Know thyself.” It is one of the Delphic maxims of ancient Greece, carved into the Temple of Apollo. It is sage advice but also a warning — one that Yahoo and its CEO Marissa Mayer still have not heeded.

Is Yahoo a media company or a tech company? That’s the central question that has dogged the once-dominant Internet company for the better part of a decade. It was the question Steve Jobs posed in 2007 when he visited the company headquarters. It’s also the question Mayer told people in 2014 to stop asking.

But it’s a relevant question, particularly as Yahoo shells out millions to buy expensive talent and buy its way into coolness in the fickle, unprofitable world of media. At the same time, investors breathing down Mayer’s neck about how she has handled Yahoo over the last three-and-a-half years. Her critics point out that the company is spending like a tech company — lavish salaries, perks and parties for employees and billions of dollars in company acquisitions — but performing like a media company“.

Yahoo spends like a tech company, but struggles like a media company

Mashable
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