Vanessa Stoykov

Tony Faure has the strategic mind to drive some of the business media companies in the country, like Seek, Yahoo and Ninemsn. But how does that strategy come about? Hello, I'm Vanessa Stoykov, the CEO of the Evolution Media Group and welcome to the next episode of evoTV's The Bottom Line. In this episode, Alex Malley, your host, talks strategy and digital media, with the Australia master of the topic, Tony Faure Enjoy the show.

Alex Malley

Share your story about how it was that you became part of Yahoo and your initiative in that?

Tony Faure

I figured out one the founders of Yahoo, a guy called Jerry Yang, was coming out to Australia to talk at a conference and I managed somehow, I can't remember exactly how, to get hold of his email address, sent him a note and said “you're coming to Australia, this is who I am, we should meet”.

Alex Malley

So I guess the day one surroundings of what Yahoo was at that point?

Tony Faure

So day one, you had a global brand and a relatively big audience and that was it. So we had this tiny office you could get six desks in, but hardly open the door, no staff. How do we start and go and turn this thing into a really big business. That was our task. It was just the most fun.

Alex Malley

So on your last day at Yahoo, what did it look like in comparison to what it looked like when you got there?

Tony Faure

By the time I left, I had 70, probably, desks in Sydney, ...