SORRY, JERRY: Yahoo's Board Has Not Really "Commenced A Search For A CEO"


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This afternoon, buffetted by "rumors and speculation" that were in fact fact, Yahoo's leaders published a couple of internal memos clarifying the situation.

The memos clarified that Yahoo is for sale. They clarified that, at this very moment, Allen & Co. is exploring the sale of all or parts of the company. They clarified that no one is really in charge at the company (one memo came from the Chairman and two chief Yahoos, the other from the interim CEO). They clarified (inadvertently) that Yahoo still has no real mission or plan short of selling all or part of the company.

In one of the memos, Chairman Roy Bostock and Chief Yahoos Jerry Yang and David Filo also assured the troops that a search is underway for a permanent CEO.

Unfortunately, it really isn't.

Yes, Yahoo's board has created a sub-committee tasked with conducting a CEO search, a source familiar with the situation tells us. And that sub-committee has begun talking to executive search firms--so, officially, a process has indeed commenced. But that sub-committee has not yet hired an executive search firm--and, therefore, has not really begun searching for a permanent CEO.

And there's actually a good reason for this.

Any buyer of all or part of Yahoo will almost certainly want its own boss in charge.

So there's no sense in rushing out and paying huge money to a search firm and a new CEO when that CEO might be instantly canned the moment Allen & Co. delivers a suitable transaction.

So the truth is that Yahoo's not really looking for a new CEO. It's just sitting there, dead in the water, hoping someone will make it an attractive offer, while its still-plenty-impressive core business withers on the vine.

How long will it be before Allen & Co. delivers an attractive deal (or concludes that there's none to be had?)

Probably weeks. Possibly months. And unfortunately for the company, there's no time to lose.

SEE ALSO: SORRY, YAHOOS: The Board Wants To Chop Up The Company And Sell Off The Parts

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A lot of economic experts are saying that we're still in for the long haul as far as the recession goes, and with the unemployment rate still teetering around 9.2% it could get a little scary for a lot of consumers out there. In this current economic climate consumers with unmanageable credit card debt may be in a world of hurt, here are some basics on the type of free help you can get that will get you on the right track.

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Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2011/09/23/payday-short-term-loans-get-an-understanding/

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Michael Arrington Fires Torpedo At TechCrunch, Launches "UNCRUNCHED"


When Mike Arrington left TechCrunch last week, a few folks suggested he might be done with the writing thing.

They had apparently checked their brains at the door.

The reason Mike Arrington became MIKE ARRINGTON, after all, is because he's great at what he does. And when you're that good at something--and you love doing it that much--you're not going to stop just because you got ousted from the company you founded.

In fact, if you're Mike Arrington, and you've still got that competitive gleam in your eye, you might just have a little fun with that company you founded--tormenting it a bit, while its parent company squirms. And this little fun will be extra fun, of course, because the parent company is now also a client of yours, having invested $10 million in your new venture capital fund. And the money's already committed, so there's nothing they can do to stop you.

And so it is that Mike Arrington has launched "UNCRUNCHED," a new blog that has already received more attention this evening than Mike's old company will probably get in a week.

What is "UNCRUNCHED?"

Well, so far, it's just a gigantic--and brilliantly named--middle finger hoisted right at AOL.

But we expect there will soon be a lot more to it than that.

Which just goes to show:

You can take the Arrington out of TechCrunch, but you can't take the Arrington out of Arrington.

Mike Arrington Uncrunched

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Groupon's Rank And File Couldn't Stand The Departing COO


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Groupon's COO Margo Georgiadis is headed back to Google after just five months.

That's a short time period, but it's really not a surprise.

Georgiadis is the second COO to leave in a rapid span, but she failed to fix any of the problems.

Reviews posted on Glassdoor.com during the last month hint at the upper management chaos:

"New Management ( VP of Sales and sales managers) approx. 2 months ago. Ever since then it has been awful. They micromanage you, expect you to work 10+ hours a day and on Saturdays!!!"

This used to be a fun, work hard-play hard place and the culture supported creativity and relationships. Now its about how many calls can you make, close deals - and nothing is ever good enough. No compliments ( Very LITTLE reward) even though you bust your butt to work for them.

"Fire the new senior management team. Bring back the old culture, the old attitudes and bring back the hard work + fun = $$ and happiness. Its all gone."

"The new CFO, SVP have Managers have really messed things up. ( Yes some people will do better with fear tactics but most don't) So have fun hiring more people - they soon will realize how awful it is and then you can start all over again."

GOING DOWNHILL QUICK: Here's What Employees Hate About Working At Groupon

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'Second Life' Inventors Expanding Gaming Universe

In August, the Second Life community learned the company that created their virtual world was planning to expand its universe.

During his keynote speech at the Second Life Community Convention, Linden Lab CEO Rod Humble mentioned that his company was working on a new mobile product separate from its pioneering virtual world, Second Life.

Back then, he was vague on details. Now we know more.

According to sources familiar with the plans, the new gaming platform (which some inside Linden Lab refer to as 2D) has already received the green light, and efforts are under way to develop the first version. The new product is being designed as a mobile gaming platform that would allow users to create or generate games on Apple's (AAPL) iPad or other iOS devices. More specifically, this browser-based design aims to allow users to create text adventure games, a type of genre that incorporates puzzle solving and exploration into a storyline, according to a source familiar with the plans.

Linden Lab declined to comment, other than to note it is working on a new mobile product featuring digital entertainment for a variety of platforms. The company hopes to announce more details in the next month or two.

A Second Life for Linden Lab

For privately held Linden Lab, the move may help spur revenues. The company says 2011 is on track to be the most profitable year in the company's history, but it's not clear whether the profits are coming from cost cutting or strong revenue growth. (Last year, the company slashed 30% of its workforce as part of a major restructuring.)

One source said the company has seen a decline in the number of hobbyists and small businesses willing to pay a monthly subscription fee to rent server space to host their virtual world on the site.

Meanwhile, Lewis Ward, research manager of gaming service for IDC, says, "The popularity of Second Life has been leveling off, so it's not odd that they would want to grow another source of revenue."

Humble's Beginnings

Since being named CEO last December, Humble -- a former Electronics Arts (ERTS) executive vice president -- has been pushing the company toward more of a game focus, aligning its resources accordingly, sources say.

Given Humble's gaming experience and close ties to Electronic Arts -- where he headed the EA Play label, which included popular PC game The Sims -- the 12-year-old privately held Linden Lab could make an interesting addition to the game publisher titan EA. (EA recently announced a large acquisition, PopCap Games, that carried a value of at least $750 million.)

That said, IDC's Ward notes that for such an acquisition to possibly work, Linden Lab would need to have a large user base for its gaming platform and demonstrate strong forward momentum.

Gartner analyst Brian Blau says that it's unlikely that EA will want to pin its hopes on an unproven gaming platform. However, he notes that if Linden Lab gets into the user-generated games business -- turning Second Life players into game makers -- it would set the company apart, in that he has never seen that type of offering before.

Gaming with the Big Boys

By getting into the gaming business, Linden Lab will be going up against not only industry giant EA, but other adversaries like Activision Blizzard (ATVI) and Take-Two Interactive (TTWO).

"Linden Lab can be a contender, but a lot of game developers have tried hard to kill EA, from Activision to Take-Two to Facebook. So it's hard to believe Second Life will be able to do that. It's a big uphill road," Blau says.

And whether something like a user-generated gaming platform would be a financial success is a question mark. But Second Life does have the advantage of having experience in charging virtual world creators for renting server space and taking a cut of virtual transactions and may find a way to apply it to game creators.

Let the games begin!

Motley Fool contributor Dawn Kawamoto does not own stocks in any of the companies listed in this article. But she has been known to play video games.


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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/09/23/second-life-inventors-expanding-gaming-universe/

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CHART OF THE DAY: Financial Conditions Are At Their Weakest Level Since Lehman


When you put together all the variables -- credit conditions, corporate bond spreads, interest rates, stocks, home prices and more  -- the macroeconomy is in really poor health.

Societe Generale's Financial Conditions Indices (FCI) are currently at their weakest levels since the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

At current levels FCIs act as a 1.1 percent drag on euro-area GDP and 1.5 percent on U.S. GDP over the next four quarters.

SocGen analyst Michala Marcussen says next week could see some improvement in FCI levels if European officials ratify the European Financial Stability Facility. For real improvement though, markets need a solid policy to deal with sovereign contagion, boost resilience in the global financial system and reassure investors that policymakers are committed to the stability of the euro area.

Note: The two FCIs are not directly comparable and do not suggest that there is more stress in the U.S. at the moment than in the euro region.

chart of the day, sg fcis since lehman, sep 2011

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AOL Cuts Budgets At Patch, "Sniper" Layoffs Elsewhere, Too?


Sniper

During a conference call on Friday, Arianna Huffington and the management team announced that freelance budgets have basically been slashed to the point of extinction, a source tells.

During the call, lead editors expressed open disdain for the "smoke and mirrors" strategy AOL is using to make some Patches look profitable.

One freelancer says the pay for covering events "doesn't even pay for gas."

But Patch isn't the only problem at the Internet company.

We heard from another source that AOL is going through other cuts as well.

Says this source:

I'm a recently departed NY AOLer, leaving after having been there 7+ years. Had dinner with former AOL colleague last night. She recounted several "snipe" layoffs that have taken place over last few weeks. Sounded like sales development was hit, corporate communications, marketing. October has been the traditional "layoff season" at AOL in the past.

We'll keep digging but drop us a line if you know anything (Noah Davis: 774.644.4220 or ndavis@businessinsider.com; Nicholas Carlson: 646.376.6014 or ncarlson@businessinsider.com)

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