Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Tells Staff to ‘Keep Moving’

New Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer in her first memo encouraged the staff of the online company to continue their work and “keep moving.”

The memo, which AllThingsD posted, also included thanks to interim CEO Ross Levinsohn, who was considered a favorite for the CEO role. Mayer didn’t mention though if Levinsohn has told her whether he was planning to stay at Yahoo and in what role he could serve.

Some analysts have predicted a possible exodus of executives that Levinsohn brought in this year.

Google veteran Mayer, who in her new role could score $71 million over five years, in her memo also acknowledged the upheaval Yahoo has seen in recent years and months amid a slew of CEO changes.

“The company has been through a lot of change in the past few months, leaving many open questions around strategy and how to move forward,” she wrote. “I am sensitive to this. While I have some ideas, I need to develop a more informed perspective before making strategy or direction changes.”

But she called Yahoo “an Internet icon” in a signal that she will focus on upside opportunities.

Read Mayer’s complete memo, as posted by AllThingsD, below:

Dear Yahoos!
I couldn’t be more excited to be here — thank you for the warm welcome over the past two days! I can’t wait to get to know more about Yahoo’s products, culture, and all of you. I’ve always had a deep respect for Yahoo! — I first experienced it as a student at Stanford in 1994 as “David and Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web” — and I’ve been fan ever since.

I’m incredibly honored to now be a part of the team and work with all of you. Yahoo! is an Internet icon — in terms of brand, reach, user following, in its products and service. There is an enormous amount of opportunity in front of us.

The company has been through a lot of change in the past few months, leaving many open questions around strategy and how to move forward. I am sensitive to this. While I have some ideas, I need to develop a more informed perspective before making strategy or direction changes.

In the meantime, please do not stop. You are doing important work. Please don’t stop. If you have questions or concerns about whether to continue or not, please ask. However, with the exception of a few things that might heavily constrain us in the future, the answer is most likely: “Yes, keep moving.”

Companies are all about people and the companies with the best talent win. Joining was an easy decision, because the strength of Yahoo!’s talent and the whole team here is apparent. We will continue to invest in talent, so we can produce the most compelling and exciting user experiences anywhere.

In recognizing our team’s deep talent, we all owe thanks to Ross Levinsohn, for his leadership and direction as interim CEO over the last couple of months. Ross has done a terrific job for the company.
Looking forward, we need to continue Yahoo!’s tradition of bold innovation, encourage creativity, and ultimately inspire and delight users and advertisers.

Please come by my office in building D on the third floor and say hello. I cannot wait to hear your ideas for Yahoo!’s future.
Marissa

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai