In Focus

Chicks Meet the Chief Yahoo!'s

Want to really get to know the CEO of the company you're following? Or better yet, how about getting him (or her) to notice you! Well, tell your club to slip on their Chick jammies and hop on over to your company's annual shareholder's meeting. Trust me, you'll cause a stir! On April 27th, that's exactly what we Chicks did and there wasn't a shareholder or Yahoo! executive in attendance who missed our presence. We Chicks basked in all the attention (what woman wouldn't?), but even without that, the experience would still have been unforgettable.

Being my first, I can't tell you whether Yahoo!'s shareholder meeting was typical or not, but I would like to recount the experience so you'll at least have a broad idea as to what to expect. I know Chick Karin gave you a few morsels last week, but here's the whole enchilada. The day began with a mini-road trip from our beautiful San Francisco, CA accommodations out to Santa Clara, home of Yahoo! headquarters. The meeting was scheduled for 10 am in the Grand Ballroom of the local Marriott. The Chicks arrived, jammie-clad, Starbucks in hand, at a comfortable 9:15. That extra 45 minutes allowed us to leisurely check in while we were getting checked out. Needless to say, donning our jammies meant we had a few questions to answer.

Upon entering the ballroom, I was rather surprised at its small size. I guess I've seen too many Hollywood movies depicting screaming shareholder meetings. This felt much more intimate and truly made you feel like a special guest... hmmm, I suppose a skeptic would be wary of being schmoozed (now there's a Hollywoodism). A nice continental breakfast buffet was laid out on either side of the room, and other tables were loaded with Yahoo! goodie bags for shareholders to take home (perfect for us mom's who needed treats for the kiddies when we got home!). Another table was set up with a laptop and a Yahoo! representative who was giving demo's of their latest presentation, "Yahoo! Broadcast," which provides streaming video and audio content from hundreds of providers. In other words, if I want to see old Mr Potatohead commercials on demand, Yahoo!'s got em!

The meeting was called to order by the now former CEO, Tim Koogle. (As of May 2nd, Terry Semel became the official CEO and Chairman of the company.) The strangest thing to me was my reaction when I first saw the Yahoo! Management team. I'm an actress, I've worked with many stars and certainly seen many more, but these Chief Yahoo!'s completely flustered me! This is the company I follow for the Chicks and I was so happy that I'd done the research because it made the whole meeting so much more fun. Following the proxy voting, our new friend, "T.K.," as Mr. Koogle quickly became known, began with a brief review of the company's most recent quarter, leading into its outlook for the future. Susan Decker, Yahoo!'s Chief Financial Officer, then gave a more in-depth review of the "numbers." The meeting closed with a question & answer session filled with chirps from the Chicks. The whole thing lasted scarcely over an hour!

Obviously, at this meeting, the Yahoo! executives had a lot of explaining to do. Many shareholders have lost their shorts as the stock has been pummeled down as much as 90% from its former highs. We Chickies haven't done so well on this stock either, another reason for our attendance. I know I'm an optimist, but I thought their management team did a fine job reiterating Yahoo!'s strengths. They have had 90% growth year after year. They are the number one ranked network globally and, in fact, the 37th most recognizable brand in the world. Remember, this is a company barely 6 years old! The part I like best? They have 1.7 billion in cold hard cash. We Chicks love companies that stash away the cash for rainy days. That's part of the reason Yahoo!'s been able to weather the cold shower the market has taken recently. Despite their highly publicized woes of diminishing advertising revenues, the company did reveal that among their top 200 advertisers in the 4th quarter 2000, 92% were continuing their programs in the first quarter 2001. In addition, the length of the average contract increased as well.

They reinforced the fact that this market stagnation will pass, but this phenomenon known as the internet, will not. Their user numbers are increasing despite the marketplace. The net currently boasts 450 million worldwide users now and projects 976 million in 2005. Yahoo! logged 68 million users in March, increasing from the 60 million users in December. In their view, they have reached a point of supreme opportunity and it is their job, as difficult as it may be, to seize it. Content offered for free elsewhere shouldn't be monetized on their site either, but look for several premium subscriber services coming in the near future. One revenue stream they've been working on is Corporate Yahoo! Many corporations using Yahoo! on their desktops have suggested interjecting their business information into their employees' My Yahoo!. Yahoo! has provided such a service to approximately 22 corporations, including Honeywell, thus far.

Well, I won't go into the Q&A, just rest assured that the jammie-clad Chicks rose to the occasion, asking intelligent questions that left everybody with "Who was that masked man?" expressions! I guess my dream, as Chicks continue to proliferate throughout the country, is that one day I'll walk into some shareholder meeting filled with fellow Chicks chirpin' around in their jammies. Now that would be some serious Girl Power!