The latest reports from Yahoo indicate that it plans to spin off its core business and leave little else behind, while allowing Yahoo shareholders to keep their stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Yahoo’s most recent move underscores the profound changes the internet environment has underwent and how Yahoo failed to adjust to change. Why does this all matter? Entrepreneurs can learn a valuable lesson from Yahoo’s inability to reinvent itself in the smartphone age.
For many people in the mid-1990s, Yahoo was the hub of the internet. After all, who didn’t have a Yahoo email address that we’re now too embarrassed to disclose the name of? (I’m sure a support group exists for all of us out there!) Fast forward twenty years later and the internet environment is almost unrecognizable when compared to Yahoo’s heyday. Since then, it has been overshadowed by internet companies (Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc.) better able to keep pace with the times.
Taking a Reactive vs. Proactive Approach to Change. Yahoo wasn’t turning a blind eye to the obvious changes the internet was experiencing. Google and Amazon rose to prominence during the same dot-com boom as Yahoo, yet they now look radically different. Whereas Yahoo focused on its core business and tried to reactively adapt it to the change, other internet companies forged ahead into uncharted territory: Google took a proactive approach and expanded past search, building successful smartphone software, email and word processing services, and the very popular browser, Google Chrome. Amazon, not satisfied with being the largest e-retailer in the world, became a streaming video/music provider and a provider of global internet infrastructure that other businesses pay to utilize.
The lesson being that failure to innovate and keep up with the changing times can humble even the largest of companies. While Yahoo concentrated on its core business, these other companies were pioneering new services and products. Google, Amazon, and Facebook have all taken a proactive approach to the rapid pace of online change, in part because they have been helping drive that change themselves by constantly innovating.
Talley & Company understands the challenges facing entrepreneurs with generating and protecting income. Whether you’re looking to improve your profitability, build your brand through a business transaction, or wish to guarantee a legacy for your family, Talley & Company is the consulting and financial services firm dedicated to strategic business solutions that deliver meaningful results.
The FBI and Justice Department are investigating whether or not officials associated with the St. Louis Cardinals gained unauthorized access to networks belonging to the Houston Astros, a rival baseball team. If the accusations hold true it would represent the first known case of corporate espionage through network hacking between professional sports teams, according to The New York Times. And it all happened because of poor password practices.
The cardinal rule of passwords: They should be unique, secret, and changed often. It appears Mr. Luhnow ignored these principles and simply reused the network passwords he used at the Cardinals for his new program at the Astros.
The Cardinals’ front office might have used Luhnow’s old Cardinals network password to access the Astros’ network after Luhnow’s departure. Through this access, the Cardinals could have obtained valuable inside information about the players the Astros are looking to recruit, potential offers and opened doors to poach desirable recruits with counteroffers — potentially changing the course of the season.
Most people associate cyber espionage or data breaches as a complex endeavor involving malware, Trojans, phishing attacks and teams of hackers that target “big business” and the government. That misconception is the result of the media’s focus on high-profile data breaches involving large corporations and government organizations, but the truth is that it is a larger problem that affects all organizations, both large and small.
Many small and mid-sized organizations have a limited understanding of the complex digital environments they’re dealing with and the repercussions of not properly protecting themselves against online threats: Cybercrime costs businesses $445,000,000,000 each year, with most of the damage done in the aftermath of an attack. Potential fines, loss of revenue, and hiring people to fix security issues can have a serious impact on a company’s bottom line, especially given the fact it takes an average of 32 days to resolve a single cyber-crime incident.
It’s critical that organizations recognize the importance of both the technical and human elements in establishing security solutions, procedures and policies, regardless of industry or size. To find out more about how Talley & Company has helped its clients with technology solutions that secure, protect, and enhance their businesses, give us a call today.