This question originally appeared on Quora
Answer by Marc Bodnick, news junkie
Conventional wisdom held by many in Silicon Valley is that Yahoo should invest its energy and resources in the three categories where it has a clear leadership position—News, Sports, Finance.
I hear this over and over from people I talk to. The basic hypothesis is that this is a viable and sustainable leadership strategy because:
- Yahoo has starved and underinvested in these three product areas for years…
- And yet the company still has a strong competitive position in each area.
- Yahoo has no competition in these areas from Silicon Valley technology leaders. Compare Yahoo’s position in these categories with its position in mail, search, social stuff, local/maps, etc. Life is a lot easier when you aren’t competing with Apple, Facebook, and Google.
- News, Sports, and Finance all seem like good viable long-term categories, where Internet Media will keep taking share from Traditional Media (print, TV).
So… maybe if Yahoo were to invest resources and focus in these areas, it could build something great.
To be clear, I have no idea if this strategy pencils out as a strategic plan; maybe these categories can’t get big enough financially to be the sole focus of the company.
Read more questions about Yahoo.
Can Marissa Mayer turn Yahoo! around?
Who was responsible for building Yahoo! Answers?
What startups have been started by former Yahoo employees?
