Will Marissa Mayer bring new life to Yahoo as CEO?

17.07.2012

Good leaders often need to hire people to round out their strengths, Lieb said. In fact, Mayer is likely to attract more talent to Yahoo than it has been able to muster on its own.

"A lot of people in Silicon Valley would tell their grandmother to work for Marissa Mayer, and very few would tell anyone to work for Yahoo," Lieb said.

Mayer's experience working on products at Google could help her address another of Yahoo's struggles, Lieb said: refocusing its broad range of offerings.

"Yahoo is, right now, the company without an elevator pitch," Lieb said. It's impossible to describe in a few words what Yahoo does, and Mayer may have the right skills to address this.

"Mayer is committed to clear brand messages, exquisite UX (user experience), clarity and simplicity, which Yahoo needs desperately," Lieb said.