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20VC: Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone on The Yahoo Turnaround Plan; What Needs To Happen | Leadership 101: The 4 Things To Look For When Hiring | Surviving a Crash; Biggest Advice on Cuts, Layoffs, Investor Communications

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Jul 29, 2022

Jim Lanzone, the CEO of Yahoo with a rich background at Tinder and CBS Interactive, shares insights on leadership in this fascinating discussion. He reflects on his journey from law school to tech CEO, emphasizing lessons learned through past failures and financial crashes. Lanzone outlines what defines high performance in teams, highlighting four key traits he seeks when hiring. He candidly discusses navigating layoffs and maintaining team morale during tough times while providing invaluable advice on adapting leadership strategies for lasting success.

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ANECDOTE

Career Journey

Jim Lanzone's career began in law school, but he transitioned to business school during the dot-com boom.
He founded a startup, experienced a crash, and later led successful turnarounds at Ask Jeeves, Clicker, and CBS Interactive before joining Yahoo.

INSIGHT

Learning from Failure

Lanzone believes that early career failures can shape leadership perspectives.
He learned about turnarounds and the importance of innovation and growth from his experiences at Ask Jeeves.

ADVICE

Hiring for High Performance

Hire domain experts with high EQ, ambition, and a love of the game.
Prioritize these four traits to build a high-performing team.

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Jim Lanzone is the CEO @ Yahoo, a company that today reaches nearly 900 million people around the world and is the third largest property on the Internet. Prior to Yahoo, Tim was the CEO of Tinder, the world’s most popular app for meeting new people, downloaded by more than 400 million people. Before Tinder, Jim spent a decade as President and CEO of CBS Interactive, a top 10 global Internet company with brands ranging from CBS All Access to CNET. He joined CBS Interactive in 2011 when CBS Corporation purchased Clicker Media, where he was founder and CEO. Before founding Clicker, Jim served as CEO of Ask.com (formerly Ask Jeeves).

In Today's Episode with Jim Lanzone

1.) Jim's Entry into the World of Startups:

How did Jim go from law school to founding his first tech startup in the dot com boom?
How did seeing the crash and the first company going bust, shape Jim's perspectives on great leadership?
What does Jim know now that he wishes he had known when he started way back in 1999?

2.) Leadership 101:

How does Jim define "high performance" in business today?
What are the 4 things Jim always looks for when hiring new people?
Why does Jim believe the standard interview process and questions are broken? How does he do it differently? What are his biggest lessons on how to hire effectively?
How does Jim know when to let someone go? How long do you give under-performers?

3.) Crashes and Turnarounds:

Jim has seen three crashes as a CEO, what are Jim's biggest lessons from 3 prior crashes?
How does Jim advise founders to be acting today? What should they focus on?
How can leaders maintain morale and optimism in the face of tough macro times?
How does Jim advise founders to communicate both with their investors and board when it comes to reduced performance in harder times?

4.) The Yahoo Turnaround:

What does Jim believe the 1-2 core things Yahoo needs to fix is? Why are they priorities?
How does Jim approach turning round the Yahoo brand? How does he plan to make it attractive?
What is the biggest misnomer that people have about Yahoo today?
How does Jim think about running a portfolio approach with Yahoo moving forward?
How has Jim changed the org structure and management of Yahoo most significantly?

Items Mentioned in Today's Episode:

Jim's Favourite Book: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln