FOR THE RECORD: I Just Bet Keith Rabois $1 ... - Business Insider

Sheryl Sandberg, one of the first folks I will add to Yahoo's new board.

Square COO and Valley tech star Keith Rabois was just bellyaching on Twitter about how Yahoo's a goner.

"Put a fork in it," Keith said.

So I pushed back on that.

Yahoo can be fixed, I said. All Yahoo needs is the right leader.

To which Keith said:

There are only 7 people who can fix Yahoo--and they're busy.

I asked Keith to list the 7.

Keith came up with 5-6:

Reid Hoffman, Mark Zuckerberg, David Sachs, Adam D'Angelo, and a couple of other folks.

I noticed I wasn't on Keith's list.

So I bet him $1 that I could fix Yahoo.

And he accepted!

So, now Keith and I have a friendly little bet on the side. If I fix Yahoo, he forks over $1. If I don't fix Yahoo, I fork over $1--via Square.

For what it's worth, I am highly confident that Yahoo can be fixed. And despite the enormous respect I have for Reid and Mark, et al, I actually don't think they're the right folks to do it, in part because I don't think they care about what Yahoo is now or could become.

I also don't think that Yahoo's product needs to be "radically transformed." I think the product needs to evolve, rapidly, to take advantage of the enormous and profound innovations that have been introduced since the late 1990s.

What Yahoo needs, in my opinion, is to be focused, reinvigorated, and radically streamlined. And the fact that absolutely no one in the techo-chamber thinks that it's even remotely possible that the company could become great again is part of the fun.

Aren't tech folks like Keith supposed to think that "impossible is nothing?"

Yes, they are!

And fixing Yahoo is far from impossible.

So, get your $1 ready, Keith.

Meanwhile, I'll get started on persuading Yahoo to give me the job.

SEE ALSO: Media Tycoons Say They Understand Twitter -- Then Reveal That They Don't

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-just-bet-keith-rabois-1-that-i-can-fix-yahoo-2011-12

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