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# Platforms and Luck
- URL: https://www.philsimon.com/platforms-and-luck/
- Published: 2012-05-24T13:37:14.000Z
- Updated: 2025-12-30T02:57:21.000Z
- Description: Is Yahoo! unlucky? Or is something else going on?
- Author: Phil Simon
- Tags: Platforms, Steve Jobs, The Age of the Platform, Yahoo!

On ZDNet today, Zack Whittaker writes about [Yahoo!'s attempt to launch a new browser](https://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/yahoo-launches-axis-browser-and-fumbles-it-disastrously/77975?tag=search-results-rivers%3Bitem11&ref=philsimon.com). In his words, " ...it couldn’t even do *that* right without fouling it up. Yahoo could probably trip over a chain in the street and unwittingly pull the plug on the Great Lakes — it’s that unlucky."

Hmmm ....

*Luck doesn't have anything to do with the state of Yahoo!*

Much of the best talent has left Yahoo! over the past five years. Think about it: if you're a rock star programmer or manager, is Yahoo! where you really want to work?

This isn't to say that Yahoo! is plagued by B- and C-level people, to paraphrase Steve Jobs. Are there smart people there? Of course. But I'd bet that many of them have abandoned ship, especially over the last few years. In-demand people have their choice of top-notch outfits.

And even über-talented folks need strong, seasoned, and stable leadership from the top, not exactly something that Yahoo! has had over the past five years.