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Leaving Yahoo was the best decision these 11 people ever made

Leaving Yahoo was the best decision these 11 people ever made

Software engineers Jan Koum and Brian Acton left Yahoo in 2007 to travel the world. Once they came back to Silicon Valley, they tried to get jobs at Facebook, but were both turned down. A few months later, Koum and Acton founded WhatsApp, the international messaging app in 2009. Five years later, Facebook bought their company for $19 billion.

Leaving Yahoo was the best decision these 11 people ever made

Stewart Butterfield's first success was founding the popular photo-sharing site, Flickr. Yahoo took notice of the site and acquired it in 2005 for a reported $22 million. Butterfield left Yahoo in 2008 and went on to create another startup Tiny Speck. It launched a game called Glitch that failed, but his next idea has struck gold again: Butterfield launched office-collaboration platform Slack in August 2013, and the company is now valued at $2.8 billion.

Stewart Butterfield

Dave Goldberg was a rabid music fan and co-founded Launch Media, an online music site and magazine, in 1995. The company later developed an internet radio service, and Yahoo swooped in to acquire it in 2001 for $12 million. Goldberg stayed on at Yahoo to become its GM of music until he left in 2007. After a stint at Benchmark Capital, Goldberg's next debut was as CEO of SurveyMonkey, which he helped grow into a $2 billion company before his death in May 2015.

Dave Goldberg was a rabid music fan and co-founded Launch Media, an online music site and magazine, in 1995. The company later developed an internet radio service, and Yahoo swooped in to acquire it in 2001 for $12 million. Goldberg stayed on at Yahoo to become its GM of music until he left in 2007. After a stint at Benchmark Capital, Goldberg

A protégé of Dave Goldberg, Ian Rogers was also at Yahoo Music and went on to become VP and GM until he left the company in 2008. He went to TopSpin Media for four years until he joined Beats Music as CEO in 2013. He's stayed with Beats Music as its become part of the Apple family. He is now senior director of Apple Music.

A protégé of Dave Goldberg, Ian Rogers was also at Yahoo Music and went on to become VP and GM until he left the company in 2008. He went to TopSpin Media for four years until he joined Beats Music as CEO in 2013. He

Now known as the co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers, Gideon Yu was SVP and treasurer of Yahoo from 2002 to 2006, where he oversaw the company's investment in Alibaba and acquisition of Flickr. He left Yahoo to become CFO of YouTube, then Facebook before he became co-owner and president of the 49ers in 2011. He stepped down as president in 2014 and co-founded a new startup, Eva Automation.

Now known as the co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers, Gideon Yu was SVP and treasurer of Yahoo from 2002 to 2006, where he oversaw the company

Paul Graham and Robert Morris launched Viaweb in 1995. Trevor Blackwell joined the company before Yahoo acquired it and re-branded Viaweb the Yahoo Store in 1998. Graham, Morris, and Blackwell would again team up in 2005 to found Y Combinator with Jessica Livingston. Their incubator has spawned companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, Reddit, and Instacart.

Paul Graham and Robert Morris launched Viaweb in 1995. Trevor Blackwell joined the company before Yahoo acquired it and re-branded Viaweb the Yahoo Store in 1998. Graham, Morris, and Blackwell would again team up in 2005 to found Y Combinator with Jessica Livingston. Their incubator has spawned companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, Reddit, and Instacart.

Albert Lee was a product manager at Yahoo until 2006. After a short stint at Webjuice, Lee returned to his family roots and joined his brother, Mike Lee, to create nutrition tracking app MyFitnessPal in 2009. The duo sold the company to Under Armour in 2014 for $475 million.

Albert Lee was a product manager at Yahoo until 2006. After a short stint at Webjuice, Lee returned to his family roots and joined his brother, Mike Lee, to create nutrition tracking app MyFitnessPal in 2009. The duo sold the company to Under Armour in 2014 for $475 million.

The IPO-bound data analytics company, Cloudera, boasts two ex-Yahoo employees among its ranks. Amr Awadallah is a co-founder and CTO of the Hadoop software company, which also employs Doug Cutting, a Yahoo alum and co-founder of Hadoop itself. Cloudera is now valued at $4.7 billion and is rumored to be on-track for an IPO soon.

The IPO-bound data analytics company, Cloudera, boasts two ex-Yahoo employees among its ranks. Amr Awadallah is a co-founder and CTO of the Hadoop software company, which also employs Doug Cutting, a Yahoo alum and co-founder of Hadoop itself. Cloudera is now valued at $4.7 billion and is rumored to be on-track for an IPO soon.

Another Hadoop company, Hortonworks, was founded two years later in 2011 after it was spun out of Yahoo. Its eight co-founders are all former Yahoo employees and its initial investment of $23 million was partially from Yahoo. Despite launching after Cloudera, it beat the company to an IPO in December 2014.

Another Hadoop company, Hortonworks, was founded two years later in 2011 after it was spun out of Yahoo. Its eight co-founders are all former Yahoo employees and its initial investment of $23 million was partially from Yahoo. Despite launching after Cloudera, it beat the company to an IPO in December 2014.

Polyvore was the brainchild of three ex-Yahoo engineers: Pasha Sadri, Guangwei Yuan and Jianing Hu. The social commerce site recently returned to the Yahoo fold after it was acquired in July 2015 for a reported $60 million.

Polyvore was the brainchild of three ex-Yahoo engineers: Pasha Sadri, Guangwei Yuan and Jianing Hu. The social commerce site recently returned to the Yahoo fold after it was acquired in July 2015 for a reported $60 million.

Eric Marcoullier is a serial entrepreneur, which is how he ended up at Yahoo and then exited it. Marcoullier first founded IGN, a network of gaming information sites, and later MyBlogLog, a social network for bloggers. Yahoo acquired MyBlogLog and Marcoullier stayed at the company for six months, until he left and co-founded social data analytics company Gnip, and OneTrueFan, which let users check in to web sites (sort of like Foursqure for the web). BigDoor bought OneTrueFan in 2011, and Twitter picked up Gnip in 2014 for $134 million.

Eric Marcoullier is a serial entrepreneur, which is how he ended up at Yahoo and then exited it. Marcoullier first founded IGN, a network of gaming information sites, and later MyBlogLog, a social network for bloggers. Yahoo acquired MyBlogLog and Marcoullier stayed at the company for six months, until he left and co-founded social data analytics company Gnip, and OneTrueFan, which let users check in to web sites (sort of like Foursqure for the web). BigDoor bought OneTrueFan in 2011, and Twitter picked up Gnip in 2014 for $134 million.

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