MONTREAL - Most nights I’ll dream about winning the lottery, traveling the world, threesomes and on occasion, I’ll dream about becoming the CEO of Yahoo. Yes I know it sounds a little weird but you see I do this because everyone makes fun of Yahoo. Yahoo is like one of those nerdy kids that people made fun of in High School. Yes, maybe she’s not the coolest kid but she has feelings. I see her true beauty but I don’t think she realizes it and neither does the world. In my dream I help her out but speaking up and it all starts with this letter.

Dear Yahoo -

I’m a young entrepreneur who’s writing this letter from cold Montreal, Canada. I know that many people have written you off but I like comebacks, so I thought I would share my ideas with you. You see, I think the core problem with Yahoo is that you’re not part of my daily life. There isn’t many reasons why you should be. Maybe if I explain an average day in my life you’ll understand what I’m trying to say;

Morning

-wake up and turn off alarm (Apple - Iphone)

-hit the can and reach for (Wired - magazine + Apple Iphone + Globe and Mail app)

-get dressed (Lululemon) prepare breakfast, drink water

-sit down at computer (Apple) and check e-mail (Google)

-turn on streaming music (Grooveshark) and look for some good house tunes

-check Facebook (Facebook)

-scan Techcrunch (AOL)

-log into Skype (Ebay?) and make some calls

-scan fantasy results (Score app)

-work.....(Adobe / Apple)

Afternoon

-take a break and play a little Call of Duty on our Playstation (Sony)

-talk to friends about seeing a movie (Paramount / AMC) later this week

-make plans to eat out (Google - searches)

-check stock markets (Google - finance)

-work....

Evening

-grab cab and meet friends at restaurant

-talk about sex, movies, travel and work

-head home and watch a little TV (Bell)

-ice knee

-check e-mails (Apple / Google)

-upload restaurant photos (My website) and video (Youtube)

-scan (Netflix) for interesting movies / documentaries

-check Facebook

-Bedtime....

Now bear with me Yahoo, my days are sometimes much more exciting, especially when they include working out, rugby or hitting the beach (when I’m down south for the winter) but you get the idea. Now did you notice that I didn’t include Yahoo in my daily routine? You see I think this is the problem and I think we can stage a great comeback and make Yahoo become a relevant, useful part of not only my life but others as well.

Clean design

I like Google.com because it’s simple. I like Apples products because they’re consistent and simple too. When I surf through Yahoo I’m overwhelmed. The homepage template looks different than the sports page, finance page, etc.. The Yahoo app is ugly too......every Yahoo product seems different. I think if you kept things simple, cleaned up and worked at creating a constant look throughout your network people will notice. Remember, I think you’re sexy Yahoo but I just don’t like how you’re presenting yourself.....dress simple.

I took a few minutes out of my busy day and designed a new homepage. Now I’m not a graphic designer but I want you to look at Photo 2 (your actual homepage) and Photo 3 (Jazz’s quick design) and tell me how you feel. I feel stressed with your design, but relaxed with mine. The simpler you keep things the more likely I am to comeback and browse through more of your pages.

Build around the entrepreneur

If you noticed in my basic Yahoo homepage re-designed I devoted a special section for featuring the Yahoo entrepreneur of the day. You see Yahoo, this is your advantage over Google which has to keep it’s homepage empty. You can feature real people, the working man, the little guy who’s trying to live the American dream. I buy lottery tickets in hope of winning the big one.....likewise, the Yahoo homepage is “the big one”. Yes Yahoo, image all the attention and hope you would give entrepreneurs if they knew that one day they could be featured on your homepage! Spread the love Yahoo, focus on the small business owner by featuring them Forbes style and I know people will want more of you :)

Movies + Music

Part of my daily routine will usually include listening to music and watching movies. Maybe you could buy or build a Grooveshark type of free music service that was just as easy to use. Music is such a huge part of our lives, I want it cheap, easy, and a great selection of tunes.

As for movies, nothing pisses me off more than these Hulus and Netflix s that never work out of our country. I’d love to be able to go to Yahoo with it’s sexy, clean, easy to use design and watch really cool movies, shows all for free. I’d probably end up buying a few to bring with me when I travel or eat out alone, a potential revenue source for you? Right now I’m paying for;

-NHL.com membership so I can watch any game anytime -Itunes (bought tons of music, Family Guy, Chappelle Show etc..) -Sirius XM radio

You see Yahoo, I like free stuff but I really don’t mind paying for quality and consistent programming. If you offered me these services, available anywhere in the world (because I hate winter here and love the beach remember) than I would be a Yahoo client in a heartbeat.

Travel

I want to ask yourself this question. What would you do if you won the lottery? I’m willing to bet my younger brothers Ipod that one of the top things you would do is travel, right? Now if you refer back to a day in Jazz’s life you’ll notice that travel usually comes up in our dinner conversations. Past trips, trips we wish we could take, trips we’re going to take etc.. You see Yahoo we pretty much all love to travel and this means there’s a lot of opportunity here. Google + AOL haven’t done much to tackle this and MSN did a good job with Expedia but you can do much better.

-add more visuals -add HD video (travel is a visual experience) -clean up the design, way too many ad links -get some real people writing about real places....enough with these cold booking engines

Travel is very social, a very important part of our lives and I honestly think you can build a successful and inspiring travel business that leverages your large membership base and company assets like Flickr.

You’re sexier than you think....

Despite all that’s been said there’s still lots of opportunity to become an important part of my life. You’re a lot sexier than you think Yahoo, you just need to show them. At the end of my dream I publish this letter and at some point get a call from Carol Bartz who invites me to lunch. I kindly explain my points in greater detail and at some point during our meal I take a chance and ask her if I can become the CEO of Yahoo. Carol smiles at me and kindly rejects me but not before offering me an opportunity that I can’t refuse. You see America, most dreams finish with a happy ending :)