Yahoo to Leave Associated Content's "Secret Sauce" Alone
Yahoo CTO Raymie Stata Says AC Will Remain Largely Independent
Now comes another ringing endorsement for keeping to a strategy of leaving AC to do what it does best - allow good writers to create good content. This assurance comes directly from Yahoo itself, in the form of CTO (Chief Technological Officer) Raymie Stata. In an interview with Jacob Brody's Venture Beat, Stata says, "A challenge for us is that we don't smother them, that we don't take our editorial processes and just drop it on what they're doing that messes up their secret sauce."
It's a great, mysterious way of describing a formula to something which is hard, or impossible to fully categorize. Just like in the American fast food industry, with grub giants like McDonald's or Burger King, recipes for highly popular items that keep customers coming back for more aren't posted in the public domain so anyone can clone a restaurant's success. However, it extends much further - over and above basic dollar menu victuals - or in AC's case single bits of content. There's a specific core culture, an ambiance to many big success stories which simply can't be wholly quantified. Yep, the secret - if anything - is in that all important, yet baffling secret sauce. The unique content creation sauce all of Associated Content's people bring with them into the mix.
The whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts. Clearly, Raymie Stata as Yahoo's main tech guy embraces, and will be strongly encouraging that spirit. I'd never really thought of myself as a chef, or even a short order cook before, but I kinda like the kitchen comparison. I'm no Rachael Ray, or even Guy Fieri in the cooking realm, but when I write, I tend to use a pinch of this, and a dash of that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to craft new dishes for the ever expanding buffet that's Associated Content. Trust me, I'll go heavy on that secret sauce - whatever it is!
Published by Will Stape
Will is an Emmy Award nominated screenwriter. He also writes extensively for magazines and the web. Will penned episodes for the TV shows, Star Trek: The Next Generation & Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.... View profile
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11 Comments
Post a Commentbest description I've seen on the subject.
Nicely written
Nice take on the situation!
well done Will.
Your writing is fun & informative as usual!!
This is truly good news.
Great article. I really do hope they leave things the way they've always been here at AC. My biggest worry is no more page view bonus. That's around $5,000 a year for me.
I'll believe it when I see it. Sorry, I'm still skeptical. It's just my gut feeling. But hey, I loved to proven wrong.
You know, Will, the "Community" is everything nice about AC. The ability to review and critique one another and offer differing insights makes it attractive to writers. I write for other sites - but my heart's desire is to continue writing on AC because it is enjoyable to me. The money was never the lure - I made much more $$$ on other sites (like Demand Studios) but Associated Content is my Community :) I hope Yahoo realizes that. There is strength in numbers and family spirit :) cheers!
I wouldn't mind a bit of editorial crunch for some things that are OBVIOUSLY way off base, like constant image violations for instance but for the most part I'd appreciate being left alone to create my own portion of the AC secret sauce.