Without getting into whether they're right or wrong, it's safe to state that some of Yahoo's critics might say the company needs all the help it can get.  Those same critics might be interested to hear, then, that Yahoo has hired someone whose primary job will be to connect Yahoo with other organizations.

Raymond Stern joins Yahoo as its new senior vice president of North America partnerships and business development.  His professional background is fairly impressive, as he's spent time at big, powerful entities like the Boston Consulting Group (as a partner) and Intuit (as the SVP of strategy and CMO).

Stern's also operated at the other end of the size continuum, serving as the president and CEO of a small company called Presto Services.

And what's more, Stern attended a couple of first-rate schools - both Stanford and Harvard.

So Yahoo's corporate friend-making efforts appear to be in good hands.  And it should be interesting to see if there are any significant breakthroughs in the near future as a result of Stern's arrival.

Anyway, a hat tip goes to Kara Swisher.

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