Google and Amazon also have a recent history of shipping things. If Yahoo were able to ship things on a routine basis, but then this big opportunity came along that required 18 months of development, maybe it would be worth a try. But if you already can't ship stuff, you don't want something that everybody thinks on day one will take 18 months, because it will certainly take longer than that.
Companies have to react to where and what they are. A perfectly sensible policy for one company may not work for another, and it's certainly no criticism of a given policy to point out it isn't universally applicable to all companies.
Companies have to react to where and what they are. A perfectly sensible policy for one company may not work for another, and it's certainly no criticism of a given policy to point out it isn't universally applicable to all companies.