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Consultants: Mess Up Totally while being 100% Right!

Don't go against the money; what say, you say? Consultants, don't go against the opinion of the people funding a venture, or their management proxies - you will not get contracts, you will have your early termination clauses invoked, and you will be forced out the valley. Of course, you will also not be able to provide any services of value, but it seems that the valley is chock full of closed end product management hires that are basically yes-men and gals for the management. So why did they hire you?

First, some background about what a good product strategist does -people are confused until they really need a guy like me. I built my reputation by being honest and never pulling punches, all while providing action oriented, sane product / channel re-jiggering.

People who label as 'Strategists' take a lot of heat; where do you get the nerve? Well, first of all, there are two types of strategists: Corporate capital 'S' strategists, and product channel specialty small 's' strategists. I am a small 's' strategist specializing in technical, industrial, and vertical markets. Without this specialization, I should be rebuffed; with no MBA, no degree from any institution of higher learning, I need my tool belt of practical industry experience to underwrite my credibility, and to speak with authority regarding the markets that I swim in, on behalf of my clients.(visit)

Yahoo Culture - What was, is, and Could Be

I am not a professional journalist. There are no ads on this blog, and I have a tiny readership. I use this blog to drive my consulting work in alternative channel marketing and product strategy. Therefore, I don't have the kind of attributable and authoritative sources that other bloggers have on the inside of Yahoo.

What I do have is a small group of friends and professional acquaintances that are subject to all of the fear and loathing that career uncertainty brings.   These folks are not VP's or Directors, they are editors and community managers, product managers, and software engineers. I met most of them through my work at France Telecom (where I was a contract analyst for product strategy). FT opened doors for an 'under the radar guy', like myself. Lots of small Bay Area companies wanted to work with this EU telecom giant, but the only survivor of the internet's halcyon days to visit the lab (while I was there) was Yahoo.

Anyhoo, when news of a round of anticipated layoffs started to surface, I wanted to collect some opinion from my small cadre of Yahoo contacts - not necessarily for a feature article on Yahoo buzz, but more for a perspective piece on the Valley's work culture. I'm fairly certain that most folks in the techbiz are aware that prior to the Microsoft take over news, and long before the layoff news, there was a fairly rigorous re-organization taking place at Yahoo that coincided roughly with the departure of Terry Semel. 

You may also recall the famous Peanut Butter letter by Brad Garlinghouse (a TechCrunch link here).  The Garlinghouse manifesto was an early warning of an impending internal shakeup. Within my network of Yahoos, folks who perform the daily work at ye olde Purple Giant, all were moved to new departments, placed under new managers, or bumped up or down a notch in perceived responsibilities. All of these salt-of-the-earth folk got a small (though by no means symbolic) pay raise.

Following here is a smattering of paraphrased narratives that I have collected with permission. As far as attribution, I was not able to secure the release of their identities, which is understandable in this climate of uncertainty. Perhaps, when the dust settles, said one, we can go on the record.

So, take these observations for what they are: thoughts and anxieties from the collective consciousness of Big Purple's mid-level ranks, as paraphrased by an amateur blogger.

It's a take on the culture of the valley we love and loathe so much:

Need a marcom writer, analyst, or product strategist?

Do you need a great sector analysts or small 's' product strategy contract Product Manager?

Go Vertical!  Hire me to be your guide to industrial and skilled trade channels for your Web 2.0 Application. See my outreach proffer here.

I deliver actionable product strategies for web properties that may have started in the consumer or enterprise business sector, and I remake them for the services sector. My specialty is web services and applications that could be profitably re-targeted towards the 'hard' professions, i.e., technical product services, equipment services, skilled trades, etc.

If you have a Web 2.0 property that is slowing its uptake, never got a fast start, etc., you at least owe yourself a conversation with me. I can work the trade associations, survey new channels, and suggest new approaches and features.

Do you need re-writes of white papers, marketing collateral, or just a general de-funk of the language in your marketing package? I'm your man. I take dry, technical buzz and tell a compelling story about your product.

I work  well with product managers - I deliver! See my portfolio pages. What have I got to lose? See my linkedin profile to the right of the page. Reach me @ [email protected] or on skype: awilensky