据美联社2月27日报道， Yahoo公司在成立之初，就非常清晰地将“尽快盈利”作为公司的发展目标，这一点和其他网络公司有所不同。在这一目标的指导下，公司在不到10个月的时间内就开始实现盈利。“尽快盈利”已成了公司发展的助推器；而在同一时间，其他上百家互联网公司却已经开始后劲不足。
此后，Yahoo一直奉行节约。公司将办公室漆成明快的紫黄色，原因只有一个：这种涂料在当时最便宜。有员工介绍说，公司持续将资金用于发展新产品，而不是装修或购买办公用品。
随着公司收入的增加，Yahoo将盈利的目标也设定得越来越大。目前，公司规模已由当初的几十人发展到现在的7600人左右，而公司“努力工作，尽情享受”的座右铭没有发生变化。
目前，Yahoo有3.45亿浏览用户，其中注册用户达1.65亿。1996年公司上市，为公司业务发展聚集了大量资金。之后，公司收入一度缩水，市场价值一度跌至46亿美元。为了挽回局势，公司聘用娱乐业资深人士特里·塞梅尔。塞梅尔使公司摆脱了单纯依赖广告收入的资金来源模式，新增了注册用户服务项目，并通过25亿美元的并购给公司发展注入新的燃料。去年，公司销售额达35.7亿美元，营业收入额达到8.4亿美元，公司的市场价值重新回到500亿美元。 （朱红隽）
Yahoo! Set to Celebrate 10th Anniversary
Co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo parlayed Yahoo Inc. from a college hobby into a full-time job 10 years ago. What separated Yahoo's creators from the rest of the dot-com crowd was their desire to create a profitable business as quickly as possible -- a contrarian concept back in those days of economic delirium.
The philosophy enabled Yahoo to begin making money in less than 10 months, and also fueled the Sunnyvale-based company's resounding comeback from the dot-com bust that obliterated hundreds of other Internet businesses.
"We have always built the company around profitability," Yang said. "When we're not profitable, it's terrible."
The partners discovered early on that being frugal isn't necessarily boring. One reason Yahoo's offices have always been painted in vibrant purple-and-yellow is because they were the cheapest colors available.
"They have always been more interested in pouring money into developing new products than spending frivolously on decorations and office supplies," said Erin
Moore, a Yahoo product manager who joined the company in April 1996 when there were just 50 employees.
Yang, 36, and Filo, 38, became billionaires long ago, but they have stuck around as the "Chief Yahoos" at the Sunnyvale-based company because they are eager to continue innovating and increasing profits.
"It's immensely more challenging to get to $10 billion in revenue than it was to get to $10 million in revenue," Filo said. "That's why we are still here today. The problems have gotten harder, the challenges have gotten bigger and it's gotten more exciting."
Yahoo has grown from a handful of employees to more than 7,600 workers today, but Moore said the company's "work hard, play hard" culture has remained intact. In between the long hours required to run the world's most popular Web destination, Yahoo's employees unwind by playing basketball, volleyball, bocce ball and even dodge ball at the corporate campus.
There's a similar ethic going on a few miles to the north at Google Inc., a fierce rival that Yang and Filo helped inspire. Yahoo doesn't pamper its workers as extravagantly as Google, which feeds its employees breakfast, lunch and dinner and even arranges to have their oil changed for free.
No one eats for free at Yahoo, although the company subsidizes the cafeteria prices. Yahoo is also inviting all registered users in the United States to download a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream on March 2 from Baskin-Robbins in celebration of its 10th anniversary.
Yahoo's profit-conscious approach has paid off handsomely, particularly for its founders. Filo still owns 6.4 percent of Yahoo's stock -- a stake worth $2.8 billion. Having sold more of his holdings through the years, Yang owns a 4.8 percent stake worth $2.1 billion.
Yahoo already has amassed an audience of 345 million, including 165 million registered users who rely on the company's Web sites for e-mail, e-commerce, news, entertainment, driving directions, matchmaking, weather forecasts, job leads and search results.
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