Fast Talk

Background: According to LinkedIn Chief Executive, Dan Nye, the company raised $53 million from investors in a fourth round of financing, giving it a valuation of about $1 billion. LinkedIn generated revenue from premium subscriptions and from advertising. Last year, Facebook was valued at $15 billion, while according to Reuters startup Slide Inc was valued at $500 million.

I think they definitely have a better business model than the other major social networks since they offer premium services that people and companies are willing to pay for and find valuable. They also don't really have any competition. This video is kind of like an infomercial, but you don't usually see investors releasing a video after investing in a company: http://tinyurl.com/3nfmve.

Probably more. I just signed up a month ago, have reconnected with colleagues, and have made some new solid connections. Though the pricing plan is interesting: it is a business-geared website, but they may find more value having more "resume" friendly pricing. Or I would say, "college-grad" pricing.

Though impossible, an interesting way to appraise LinkedIn would be to somehow calculate the total net profit created by the networks and relationships made possible through the website. For instance, if a new hire recognized through LinkedIn sealed a $5M deal, that's $5M on your way to $1Bn. Or, if two old college friends met up through LinkedIn, made a tech start-up, then sold it for $10M - same idea.

Absolutely. Their users are all career driven, in their prime between 21 and 50, male and female. Their ads probably (I am speculating) because of their demographics and professional focus offer very high CPMs. They know each and every user and even what they do professionally e.g. are they a buyer? Promote Intel Inside heavily when they log in. Definitely I think LinkedIn is a great product and will only get better while Facebook gets messier (not a word I think). Cheers

linked in is useless. everyone i know is on it but nobody uses it. they have make it more functional and useful somehow.

Not yet. They will have to do more to reach out to other cultures. Currently they are limited to english readers. They should look at a partnership with BTR, as we are predicting that BlogTalk will be more viral than YouTube, because more people have audio level bandwidth, by more that ten times the number who have video feed.

No way! Not in a billion years. It's a nice site for networking but not worth a billion.

One pays a $800k for a 10ct AAA flawless diamond. Was it worth it? Here in this world because they are rare and one has to dig deep into earth in order to reach them. We also have a cartel which makes sure that the supply is monitored. We go to another planet diamonds are like the dirt underneath our feet. Who in the right mind would pay a penny for a piece of rock? Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Someone asking that question does not believe that it is; or they need validation that they placed the right bet. So the real answer is not in until some one comes along and are willing to pay one more than a billion. Substantially more. The answer is yes.

Anything is worth what someone (or company) is willing to pay.

Not likely, in MY mind, but then anything is 'worth' whatever a given individual or group is willing to pay for it - therefore, the value is situation-specific, in a sense. It is to some, and not to others. There is no way to force anyone to buy anything, after all. And with the Internet, it's far harder for monopolies to take over, I believe.. I was told (in 2003) by the head of the Chamber of Commerce that because I refuse to "ask the approval of my 'business superiors' before I express my business-related opinions", (which are often contrary to theirs), "We'll burn you out! We'll starve you out! We'll see to it that you're NEVER going to be a success in business in North Dakota! Or anywhere else!" PHOOEY! "I" am no a rousing success, (yet) but I am no failure, either. They have not yet 'burned or starved me out', although they have tried.. Servers have been hacked and crashed, web masters have suddenly disappeared where I'm concerned, but all it has done is widen my contacts with such people as I search for good replacements, and made me learn how web sites work and how to build good ones - thus making me more knowledgeable and stronger than I otherwise might have been. Does that make me worth a particular figure, then? Depends on who you ask. Same with LinkedIn

Value is a perception, not based on any true formula, so if that is the perception, then yes. Remember MP3.COM and Enron? They had crazy valuations without any real income models (although Enron did falisfy their reports, it was pretty obvious in hindsight that they were smoke and mirrors.) Linkedin is a great community, does have an income model and becuase it serves a really underserved niche, I think it is a valuable resource and since it's the first in its category, it's unlikely to lose the market share it has.

When I signed up, it was less than one hour before I had new contacts from around the country. That told me somebody was looking and that gave me a sense of confidence in the site. If I am worth a dollar, and spend a dollar on that site, then it comes down to number of subscriptions. Add to that future potential, and do the math. Based on that, not worth it yet.

I think that social networking sites with a professional flair get more consistent updates than Monster or other sites like that. They have an appeal to a higher-level contributor and serve as great ways to serve a consultive function other than when people are just looking for jobs...Worth 1 billion? I don't think that LinkedIn is squared away enough make that claim...their groups aren't searchable currently...something that is important to make them usable. Little things like that need to be fixed up to maximize their value.

In terms of concept,yes!

Really? I have yet to experience any real activity with linkedin and I've been a member for a long time. You get what you put in, I suppose. I'm mostly astounded that the mediocre design qualifies it as a more "professional" networking site--strangely adds legitimacy.

Do the math! When you look at the work this bunch of maniacs is getting done, I'm surprised it isn't a great deal more. While others are poised for who's number one and what can they do for their own well being, LinkedIn chose a different strategy that chose to place their clientele first. Imagine that. A company that puts their clients first. And you ask whether it's worth a billion bucks?

Well, let me put it this way... you are imitating their business model, aren't you?