Marissa Mayer, the former CEO of Yahoo knows plenty about scary steps. Ms. Mayer took charge of the fading internet pioneer while

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit https://www.djreprints.com.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/marissa-mayer-has-these-advisers-on-speed-dial-11615611605

PERSONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Marissa Mayer Has These Advisers on Speed Dial The former Yahoo CEO, now running startup Sunshine Products, shares four of the people she calls upon for trusted advice

By March 13, 2021 12�00 am ET

Joann S. Lublin

In Personal Board of Directors, top business leaders talk about the people they turn to for advice, and how those people have shaped their perspective and helped them succeed. Previous installments from the series are here.

Marissa Mayer, the former chief executive of Yahoo Inc., knows plenty about scary steps.

Ms. Mayer took charge of the fading internet pioneer while six months pregnant—an uncommon move in American business. And the tech-industry veteran once leapt from a skyscraper solely protected by a body harness and a cable.

For her latest gutsy act, Ms. Mayer braved the raging pandemic last November to launch the first product from Sunshine Products Inc., the tech startup she co-founded in 2018 after leaving Yahoo. Its Sunshine Contacts app automatically organizes and improves iPhone contacts.

The 45-year-old CEO admits she worried about possible poor timing for the app amid Covd-19. But Sunshine Contacts, available by invitation, has attracted thousands of users, she reports.

Ms. Mayer envisions a bright future for Sunshine, based in Palo Alto, Calif., because its planned products will simplify mundane tasks. She hopes Sunshine will be the next big publicly held company that she leads.

Listen to this article 8 minutes

S&P 500 Closes Above 4000 Buoyed by a rebound in technology stocks, the S&P 500 hits a new record.

READ

Her optimism partly reflects supportive and candid feedback from mentors—though “I didn’t necessarily always like what they had to say.’’ She expects they will also assist her in building Sunshine into a successful global business.

A native of Wausau, Wis., Ms. Mayer captained the high school debate team and pompom squad. The self-described introverted geek excelled in science and math. She was one of her state’s two delegates to a nationwide youth science camp.

Ms. Mayer intended to major in biology and chemistry at Stanford University, as a step in her plan to become a pediatric neurosurgeon. She soon changed to symbolic systems, however.

She liked the interdisciplinary program’s focus on “how the brain worked and whether you could replicate it with machines.’’ Switching to a major she knew little about “was something of a calculated risk,’’ she continues. “That’s how you grow.”

Ms. Mayer fielded 14 job offers in spring 1999 while completing her Stanford master’s degree in computer science. She accepted Google’s. She figured leaders of the fledgling search engine could teach her a lot even if they failed.

Ms. Mayer was its first female engineer and 20th employee. She worked in the same building that Sunshine now occupies. She advanced to an executive role by 2003. She and her teams introduced more than 100 services—including Gmail and Google Maps.

In addition, Ms. Mayer devised a two-year mentorship program that prepared recent graduates to be Google product managers. Then CEO Eric Schmidt praised her initiative during a 2003 management retreat.

BIO BITS

Age: 45•

Education: Bachelor’s degree in symbolic systems and master’s degree in computer science with specialization in arti�icial intelligence from Stanford University. •

Family: Husband Zachary Bogue plus son Macallister, age 8 and twins Sylvana and Marielle, age 5.•

Worst advice you ever got? Rewire switches and electrical outlets in my �irst apartment without a professional electrician. •

New WFH hobby since the pandemic? Doing window art projects with my kids using Ooly Rainy Dayz Gel Crayons. •

Secret talent: My son taught me to sing the ABCs backward.•

S&P 500 Closes Above 4000 Buoyed by a rebound in technology stocks, the S&P 500 hits a new record.

READ

But privately, he warned Ms. Mayer that her young hires were “screwing up the entire company” because they bossed around older engineers. “Get them some good management coaching,” Mr. Schmidt said.

She arranged such sessions through Maureen Taylor, Mr. Schmidt’s executive coach—and soon used her services, too. Ms. Taylor was among the few Mayer acquaintances aware of her pregnancy when Yahoo offered the top spot in 2012.

During Ms. Mayer’s five-year command, its market capitalization increased $33 billion. Yet she couldn’t revitalize a company that had struggled with high executive turnover and ad-revenue declines. Yahoo sold its core business to Verizon Communications Inc. in 2017.

Here are four of Ms. Mayer’s most trusted advisers:

Maureen Taylor

CEO and co-founder of SNP Communications

Ms. Taylor has counseled Ms. Mayer about professional moves since 2004. The most critical? Whether to join Yahoo.

“I didn’t know if I could be a first-time CEO and a first-time mom at the same time,’’ Ms. Mayer notes.

Her coach insisted that she could. “Love and family don’t take away from being a leader,’’ Ms. Taylor remembers reassuring her. “And being a good leader doesn’t take away from love and family.’’

Ms. Mayer knew Ms. Taylor had run a successful leadership-development firm while raising two children. “That gave me confidence that [doing both] was possible.’’

She still treasures a pillow Ms. Taylor gave her during her difficult early days at Yahoo. “Be Nice or Leave,” it reads.

S&P 500 Closes Above 4000 Buoyed by a rebound in technology stocks, the S&P 500 hits a new record.

READ

“Some people weren’t being nice,” Ms. Mayer points out. The Yahoo chief came under fire for certain moves, including resuming work within two weeks of her son’s birth.

Eric Schmidt

Former executive chairman and CEO of Google Inc. and former executive chairman of Alphabet Inc.

Mr. Schmidt sent flowers to Ms. Mayer on the day his longtime Google colleague arrived at Yahoo. “I am always here if you need me,’’ his

bouquet card said.

During her first month, he offered Ms. Mayer sage advice about being an effective business leader. Mr. Schmidt explained that a chief executive must only make a few crucial decisions.

“But there are times you weigh in and push very hard for a specific thing,’’ he recalls telling her. “This is what CEOs must get right.”

Ms. Mayer says she initially resisted his strategy because she held “the classic view of a CEO making lots of decisions.’’

Gradually, however, she began asking herself whether she could delegate a crucial decision to her associates. She now realizes that only a few of her Yahoo decisions “really mattered in terms of the course of the company.’’

Maynard Webb

A founder of Webb Investment Network and former Yahoo Inc. chairman

Mr. Webb took a Yahoo directorship shortly before the board recruited Ms. Mayer. The former eBay Inc. executive was named

Yahoo chairman in 2013.

He believes the best advice he ever offered Ms. Mayer was that she should thoroughly explore important issues with her fellow directors “even when you know what needs to be done and want it done quickly.’’

S&P 500 Closes Above 4000 Buoyed by a rebound in technology stocks, the S&P 500 hits a new record.

READ

Appeared in the March 13, 2021, print edition as 'Marissa Mayer.'

His guidance also came in handy as Ms. Mayer considered entrepreneurship following her Yahoo stint. Mr. Webb, co-author of a book for aspiring entrepreneurs, encouraged her to organize a business in ways that played to her strengths. He suggested “she could chart her own course and do so totally on her own terms.’’

Ms. Mayer says she decided doing it her way meant finding a strong co-founder and involving employees in crafting their venture’s direction. She chose Enrique Muñoz Torres, a Yahoo executive she knew from Google.

They created Lumi Labs, but changed the startup’s name for the debut of Sunshine Contacts.

Sarah Leary

A venture partner at Unusual Ventures and a co-founder of Nextdoor Inc.

The two Silicon Valley executives have been good friends since they crashed a mutual acquaintance’s honeymoon in Venice 15 years ago.

Ms. Leary subsequently helped found Nextdoor.com, a neighborhood social network. In April 2020, she became a venture partner at Unusual Ventures, an early-stage venture- capital firm.

Ms. Mayer was the first person whom she backed as an Unusual Ventures investor, Ms. Leary notes. “I was impressed with her willingness to go back to square one.’’

She urged the novice entrepreneur to think small in developing Sunshine’s inaugural app. “Strip a product down to the essence and find the magic for users,’’ Ms. Leary recommended. “Get into the market [fast] with something even if it’s rough.’’

Ms. Mayer did so—by introducing Sunshine Contacts sooner and postponing certain features. Ms. Leary still confers with her friend every few weeks about Sunshine. “We discuss everything from hiring progress to product strategy.’’

Write to Joann S. Lublin at [email protected] S&P 500 Closes Above 4000 Buoyed by a rebound in technology stocks, the S&P 500 hits a new record.

READ

Copyright © 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit https://www.djreprints.com.

S&P 500 Closes Above 4000 Buoyed by a rebound in technology stocks, the S&P 500 hits a new record.

READ