Ninja: Yes and that is the role that we take on reluctantly but we take it on and that is a responsibility that we decided to take on by forming this company and by doing this in a very human way. The way that we handle it is by listening and by knowing that we will come up with the best possible answer we can think of today and that we will probably and hopefully get lots of input about that. And if we can change it tomorrow and it can get better and can better then we will change our minds. So, you know early early days, I remember the one fax machines literally ringing off the hook and we just could not get the fax going out. Because the faxes were coming in to tell us that we had made a tragic mistake. We had mis-categorized a site in our Judaism category for a faith that calls iself Masonic Judaism, which happens to be a group of people that calls themselves Jews. They may have, they may be of Jewish ethnic origin, heritage, they follow Jewish traditions and practices, customs, holidays, kosher laws, you name it and they also happens to believe that Jesus Christ is The Messiah. Well that is a fascinating issue, right? And how, what people calls themselves versus what the group that may they even wnat to be a part of and howow they think of them. It was exactly these kinds of issues that helped us really on to form the kinds of rules of engagement for what role do we play and how do we take responsibility for that role and be as inclusive as possible and help people get to the information that they are looking for.
Kamla: So at a personal level, who do you turn to for clarifications? How do you keep yourself updated on all these different things that are unfolding every day in different parts of the world?
Ninja: Well we start with our own medium and you know that it is amazing how much one can learn online and it was true in 1995 and it is certainly true in 2009. We start with our own medium; we start with our own team. We go out of our way to hire people who themselves, each of them are intellectually curious and have diverse backgrounds. The kinds of resumes for what we call editorial for the surfing job-the kinds of resumes that we love to see people whose experience lies all over the map. They did’nt know that they are premed and then they took the main courses and they became the doctor. You know there wasn’t a pre-determined path? May be they were a little bit unfocused and then may be they had a liberal arts degree and then may be they taught English in Equador and then may be they worked for start up. But what is important to us is not a consistency of experience but a consistency of passion. That this is somebody, who is willfully and zealously going after things that they are interested in and pring their heart out.
Kamla: But you personally, at a personal level, how do you do that?
Ninja: Oh I ask anybody I know I read anything I can, research online, offline.
Kamla: Do you find that you have become even more curious?
Ninja: Oh I hope so. Absolutely. I feel more curious every day. It is the more you know the more you don’t know.
Kamla: What is it that you have learnt in the last 13 years? What stands out?
Ninja: Well, boy. That is a very big question. One thing that stands out is nothing is more important then being surrounded by kindred spirits who are passionate about what they are doing, who are in it for something bigger than themselves. I think facing and addressing hard problems with people who are smart and genuinely interested in the bigger issues with a common vision. That is endlessly interesting. It is intoxicatingly interesting. I just can’t think of a better vehicle or platform to do that, to spend my days doing that than doing that here in Yahoo!
Kamla: So, we have talked a lot about different things, but if I was to pull it all back together - your work encomposes privacy, data policy, free speech issues and editorial decisions about Yahoo’s overall content.
Ninja: That is right.
Kamla: How do you keep them all balanced and yet present objective information? Let me add another twist. The kinds of users there are different users from different parts of the world with different levels of knowledge. So you have a very complex and the back end is very complex.
Ninja: That is right.