Philip Wen’s Virtual Residence

Yahoo - Jerry Yang’s Ouster

Jerry valued his prized brainchild a little too high initially and is now paying the price for it.  See the posts here and here.  This is a classic case of the endowment effect- it is sad that the passion that Yang had for the company is also the one that is bringing him down from the top post.

What can we learn from this?  Once the company goes public, it belongs to the public.  And that no matter how much of a brainiac you are, you can’t escape the boundaries of human psyche.

Endowment effect is a double-edged sword.  Wield it wisely.

As for Jerry - I am sorry man.  Sometimes popular consensus is more important than having “the passion” and doing the “right thing”.  Just ask Galileo.  Or not.

Tags: jerry yang, Yahoo