I was at AOL years ago when Starboard started a proxy fight with Tim Armstrong. They were &quot;activists&quot;, which is to say they were looking for public support to break up and sell the company. Armstrong took them on and brought his own public offensive, explaining why the AOL long-term strategy was better than the short-term breakup that Starboard was touting. Armstrong prevailed in his quest and eventually Starboard bowed out, eventually selling a chunk of their position in the company.<p>Two years later, AOL was bought by Verizon.<p>Armstrong was a relatively strong leader in that situation. He was a salesman at heart and knew he needed to reinforce his strategies (however non-plausible those might have been) with the company, the Board, the shareholders and AOL customers.<p>Mayer looks like none of that to me, and remarkably tone deaf against Starboard. Sorry to those Yahoos still hanging on, but Starboard are simply vultures for distressed companies. Not sure how long it will last, but the chances of an independent Yahoo being open for business in 3 years is really low.