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On the internet, there are thousands of professional networking websites. Many of us are undoubtedly familiar with a few of the leading professional networks. However, the best professional networks are those that are simple to use, including all the necessary functions and functionalities.
LinkedIn is a professional-oriented social networking site. You may use it to network and create your professional profile, but then you can also use it to explore new job opportunities. LinkedIn is used by both established business executives and recent college graduates. Recruiters and employers who are seeking applicants also utilise LinkedIn.
LinkedIn – Company Highlights
| Startup Name | |
|---|---|
| Parent Company | Microsoft |
| Industry | Social media |
| Headquarter | Sunnyvale, California, U.S |
| Founders | Allen Blue, Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Eric Ly |
| Founded | May 5, 2003 |
| Subsidiaries | LinkedIn Learning, Connectifier, Drawbridge, Glint |
| CEO | Ryan Roslansky |
| Areas Served | Worldwide |
| Website | www.linkedin.com |
About LinkedIn, and How it Works?
LinkedIn – Industry
LinkedIn – Name, Logo, and Tagline
LinkedIn – Founders
LinkedIn – Startup Story
LinkedIn – Vision, and Mission
LinkedIn – Business Model, and Revenue Model
LinkedIn – Services
LinkedIn – Funding, and Investors
LinkedIn – Investments
LinkedIn – Acquisitions
LinkedIn – Competitors
LinkedIn – Strengths
LinkedIn – Future Plans
About LinkedIn, and How it Works?
LinkedIn is a professional and employment-oriented internet service based in the United States that operates through a website and mobile application. It was launched on May 5, 2003, and is principally used for networking opportunities and career-related advancement opportunities. LinkedIn enables job applicants to publish resumes and cover letters and recruiters to offer positions.
Since 2015, the majority of the company’s revenue has come from providing recruiters and marketing experts with the availability of information about its users. It has been completely owned by Microsoft, since December 2016. LinkedIn has more than 774 million registered users including over 200 countries around the world.
LinkedIn, like any other social networking site, has an algorithm that is constantly modified to offer users the best possible experience. As a member, you’ll notice that your “feed” – which works similarly to Facebook’s feed – keeps you updated with new stuff regularly. However, before this feed reaches your profile, it passes via LinkedIn’s filtration.
Some of these rating filters are set up to check for spammers or low-quality content, or to provide permission for the information to be displayed. What you’ll be viewing has most possibly been approved by a computer bot.
You may interact with the posts in your newsfeed by leaving a like, comment, or by sharing them. You may also mark the material as spam or hide it from view to prevent others from viewing it. What you view in the future is influenced by your actions. People’s reactions to the stuff may be influenced by your behaviour.
If you give negative comments on a piece of material, LinkedIn will compare your activities to that of others to assess whether or not the piece should be in anyone else’s feed. LinkedIn is useful for both socializing and advertising.
You can market on LinkedIn just like you can on Instagram and Facebook. You can run InMail campaigns and place ads using the Campaign Manager. It’s a pay-per-click model, meaning you only pay whenever anyone clicks on the advertisement. But that’s also why you would want to target properly, so think about your abilities and who would be interested in those. The best outcomes may come from a restricted approach.
LinkedIn – Industry
The worldwide social networking platforms market was estimated at $192.950 billion in 2019, with a rate of 25.38 per cent expected to reach $939.679 billion by 2026.
A professional network platform is a sort of social communication network that focuses only on professional interactions and connections rather than private, non-business connections.
Business people utilise a professional network platform to build and retain working relationships, as well as to obtain employment or advance in their careers and to receive information and networking events.
According to LinkedIn managing director Clifford Rosenberg, “This is really a call to action for professionals to re-address their use of social networks and begin to reap as many rewards from networking professionally as they do personally.”
Businesses rely heavily upon outside information and resources, and to acquire what they require, they must go out there and establish working relationships with others, such as employees or customers, as well as possible prospects.
Companies can maintain all of their networks updated, and organised, and help find out the most efficient method to communicate with every one of them by employing a professional network solution. A business that can handle everything reduces most of the stress associated with getting things done.
Businesses can maintain all of their connections updated, organised, and find out the most effective method to communicate with each one of them by employing a professional network solution. When attempting to get things done, a service that can handle everything might help ease some burdens.
Annika Motamarri
LinkedIn – Name, Logo, and Tagline
LinkedIn’s logo has been altered twice during the decades of its establishment, although only minimally, staying the same as it was at its commencement. It consists of the preposition “In” and the word “Linked.” There is a little gap between them that makes the parts appear to be merged.
LinkedIn’s principle is connecting, but here with your professional contacts, the name is as obvious. Joining allows you to get linked (or connected), in(to) your network of connections, which should provide you with greater opportunities as a result of your contacts.
The tagline of LinkedIn says, “Connect to Opportunity.”
LinkedIn – Founders
Allen Blue, Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Eric Ly developed LinkedIn on May 5, 2003.
Allen Blue
Allen was previously the Director of Product Design at SocialNet.com, a social networking site that covers recreational, dating, and professional activities, where he was in charge of product design and the execution of SocialNet’s member-data-driven business model. Allen formerly worked as a freelance web designer and developer for companies such as Stanford University, PayPal, and Microsoft’s Virtual World project.
Reid Hoffman
Reid, an entrepreneur and executive, was integral to the development of several of today’s biggest consumer technology companies, including PayPal and LinkedIn. He has a distinct grasp of customer psychology and the characteristics of viral firms, as well as extensive experience leading organisations from their inception through periods of rapid, “blitz scale” expansion.
Reid invests in firms with network effects and participates in creating their product ecosystems, ranging from Airbnb to Convoy, LinkedIn to PayPal, and Facebook.
Konstantin Guericke
Konstantin Guericke is an Earlybird Partner. He works out of Silicon Valley. As Vice President of Marketing at LinkedIn, Konstantin supervised marketing operations from launch through the first six million members and sustainability.
He was formerly the CEO of Jaxtr Konstantin and has extensive entrepreneurial expertise as the creator of successful startups and as a growth advisor to established businesses. He is currently a board member of multiple firms and a Stanford University student entrepreneur mentor. Konstantin graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering.
Jean-Luc Vaillant
Jean-Luc is responsible for LinkedIn’s technological infrastructure as Chief Technology Officer. Jean-Luc has been one of LinkedIn’s co-founders. Before starting LinkedIn, Jean-Luc worked for Logitech as a Director of Engineering, overseeing the incorporation of video into MSN 6. Jean-Luc, also worked at Spotlife as Director of Software Development until the firm was purchased by Logitech.
Jean-Luc was previously the Vice President of Development at MatchNet, which bought SocialNet in May 2001. Jean-Luc has also worked for Fujitsu Software Corporation and France Telecom’s research laboratories in engineering management positions. Jean-Luc has an M.S. in Computer Science and a post-graduate degree in Network Engineering from the University of Marseille.
Eric Ly
Presdo, an online application that helps individuals determine the optimal time to get together was founded and run by Eric Ly. Eric. He was formerly a co-founder of LinkedIn, where he served as the original CTO and VP. Eric worked on several of LinkedIn’s fundamental product features, which helped the firm achieve profitability and a rapidly increasing number of users.
LinkedIn – Startup Story
Although LinkedIn was formed in 2002, the website did not go live until 2003. Reid Hoffman collaborated on the website with a group of employees from two of his previous businesses, Socialnet.com and PayPal. Growth was sluggish and restricted at first, but as the site’s functions expanded, it became exponential.
LinkedIn was founded in May of 2003, but it was not an instant success. LinkedIn had just 245 members towards the end of 2003, most of whom were professional links of the founding team. LinkedIn’s growth surged in its second year, thanks to new services aimed at small company owners, such as contact book uploads, Groups, and a collaboration with American Express.
Through 2004, membership grew from the hundreds to the thousands and thousands. By 2005, the site’s membership had surpassed 1 million, and it had developed two revenue-generating lines of business: Jobs and Subscriptions. The firm expanded as well, creating a fourth location.
LinkedIn transformed in 2012, focusing on 3 concepts: simplicity, expansion, and every day. Influencers were introduced, as well as platforms in eight new languages and an iOS app.
LinkedIn continues to improve and offer a more seamless user experience over the following several years, allowing users to make meaningful professional connections. LinkedIn Learning, which provides courses in several topic areas for individuals seeking continuous education possibilities, was founded after it acquired Lynda.com. LinkedIn has more than 500 million members worldwide as of April 2017.
LinkedIn – Vision, and Mission
LinkedIn’s mission is straightforward: “to connect the world’s professionals to make them more successful and productive.”
LinkedIn’s vision statement says, “transform the way the world looks for work, develop, and market professional skills.”
LinkedIn – Services
Everyone can use LinkedIn for free. However, the firm offers and delivers various premium services to its customer base. Among the most important services are:
Marketing Solutions
LinkedIn also offers marketing services in addition to recruiting solutions. LinkedIn, besides being a professional network, also allows businesses to create and execute their ideal marketing tactics in their campaigns. The firm can have a LinkedIn page.
Furthermore, the organisation can strengthen its marketing efforts by utilising technologies for the construction of text ads, sponsored email, and sponsored content. Both of these LinkedIn offerings add to the company’s income creation techniques.
Talent Solutions
All services provided to businesses, including recruiters and job seekers, are referred to as talent solutions. This is a premium tool that assists them in hiring the best qualified and relevant individual that meets all of their criteria. Apart from that, it provides entrepreneurs with the ideal partner for building their firm.
LinkedIn Recruiter, Work With Us Ads, Recruitment Media, Job Slots, and Career Pages are some of the primary services given by LinkedIn under Talent Solutions. Apart from the benefits, LinkedIn offers to recruiters, it is also beneficial to workers.
With millions of courses accessible in premium editions, it helps students improve and perfect their talents. Users of other employment platforms must search for jobs independently. Users must, however, demonstrate their abilities and qualities on LinkedIn in order to establish their brand and attract recruiters. This is, after all, one of LinkedIn’s main offerings.
LinkedIn – Business Model, and Revenue Model
The LinkedIn business model is a multifaceted system that links corporate users with employers and advertisers that want to build their own network of contacts. LinkedIn is recognised as “the professional network” because of its vast community of professionals from every industry and from all over the world. LinkedIn now has over 660 million users from over 200 countries.
According to LinkedIn’s User Agreement, its “services are designed to promote economic opportunity for our members by enabling you and millions of other professionals to meet, exchange ideas, learn, and find opportunities or employees, work, and make decisions in a network of trusted relationships”.
LinkedIn’s revenue streams are:
- Marketing solutions
- Talent solutions
- Premium subscriptions
- Pay-per-click job posting
LinkedIn’s whole business strategy is based on job searches, network interactions, and connections. They also have a huge market share compared to their competitors.
With a few tweaks, LinkedIn can maintain its market dominance while simultaneously making a more significant contribution to society, such as increasing its techniques for assisting users who cannot afford a membership to locate and acquire jobs.
LinkedIn – Funding, and Investors
| Date | Round | Amount | Lead Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 15, 2016 | Post-IPO-Equity | – | – |
| Dec 1, 2009 | Secondary Market | $51.6M | – |
| Oct 22, 2008 | Series D | $22.7M | – |
| Jun 17, 2008 | Series D | $53M | Bain Capital Ventures |
| Jan 29, 2007 | Series C | $12.8M | Bessemer Venture Partners, Global Founders Capital |
| Oct 1, 2004 | Series B | $10M | Greylock |
| Nov 1, 2003 | Series A | $4.7M | Sequoia Capital |
LinkedIn – Investments
| Date | Organization Name | Round | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 2022 | Oyster | Series C | $150M |
| Dec 6, 2021 | Trala | Venture Round | $6.9M |
| Jun 23, 2021 | Acryl Data | Seed Round | $9M |
| Jun 22, 2021 | G2 | Series D | $157M |
| Jun 10, 2021 | Hopin | Series C | – |
| May 18, 2021 | Piano | Series C | $20M |
| Mar 24, 2021 | Bevy | Series C | $40M |
| Nov 1, 2019 | StarTree | Seed Round | $4M |
| Apr 25, 2019 | Salesloft | Series D | $70M |
| Apr 3, 2018 | Salesloft | Series C | $50M |
LinkedIn – Acquisitions
| Acquiree Name | About Acquiree | Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paddle HR | Paddle HR helps large enterprises match current employees with new jobs within the company, saving them millions in recruiting costs. | Mar 29, 2022 | – |
| Oribi | Oribi Analytics gives you the actionable insights you need to make solid, data-driven marketing decisions—no coding required. | Feb 28, 2022 | – |
| Jumprope | Jumprope is a platform where users can create, discover, and share how-to videos and tutorials. | Aug 2, 2021 | – |
| UpCounsel | UpCounsel operates an online marketplace for businesses to find and hire legal help based on their preferences in the United States. | Apr 23, 2020 | – |
| Drawbridge | Drawbridge uses large-scale AI and machine learning technology to build Identity solutions that connect, unify, & enhance customer data. | May 28, 2019 | – |
| Sendbloom | Tailored outbound messaging for sales | Dec 1, 2018 | – |
| Glint | Glint offers an employee engagement platform. | Oct 8, 2018 | – |
| Heighten | Heighten is a software as a service company that provides a platform for salespersons to operate faster. | Jun 2, 2017 | – |
| PointDrive | PointDrive is a sales-oriented application that improves the way you share content with customers. | Jul 26, 2016 | – |
| Run Hop | Run Hop specializes in online content distribution to accelerate its efforts to make users’ feeds more engaging. | May 5, 2016 | – |
LinkedIn – Competitors
Top competitors of LinkedIn are :
- AngelList
- Meetup
- Data Connect
- Sumry
- The Go To Market Company
- Jobcase
- Bark
- Doostang
- Let’s Lunch
LinkedIn – Strengths
- Customer Service – Customers are really pleased with the customer service department.
- Automation – Automation helped the organisation to grow continuously in response to market needs
- Dealers – In addition to advertising the items, its dealers spend on sales training to demonstrate the products’ benefits to customers.
- Innovative – LinkedIn has a history of developing innovative products that have been successful.
- Integrated – LinkedIn has integrated and acquired a large number of complementary enterprises over the years to expand its supply chain and distribution network.
- Workforce – LinkedIn spends heavily on the training and development of its workers, resulting in a highly trained and engaged workforce.
- New sectors – LinkedIn is a master at breaking into new sectors, and its development continues to open up new income streams in a variety of industries.
Niku Mandal
LinkedIn – Future Plans
“LinkedIn is attempting to establish itself as a hub for B2B sales and hire. Continue to do what you’re doing since LinkedIn’s value as a sales channel will only grow over time. Although the methods and platform may evolve, using it as a sales tool will only improve over time,” LinkedIn’s Customer Advisory Board member said.
What happens if LinkedIn restricts organic outreach? Simply said, they will begin to commercialize and demand fees for outbound LinkedIn prospecting. They currently have InMail, but everyone who has used the software knows it isn’t that efficient.
LinkedIn puts a lot of work into these InMail elements, such as accessible and trackable buttons and links, but the InMail messages don’t seem natural as a consequence. They resemble some spammy, blasted message with a huge “Buy now” button on it.
Adding the fact that the cost of InMail is significantly greater than the cost of organic outreach, it’s easy to understand why they haven’t gained much momentum on the platform thus far. This is something expected to change. As LinkedIn’s organic outreach is curtailed, it is expected that its paid messaging solutions to develop and grow.
This is something that is likely to change. As LinkedIn’s organic outreach is constrained, sponsored messaging solutions are projected to develop and proliferate.
LinkedIn – FAQs
What does LinkedIn do?
LinkedIn is a professional and employment-oriented internet service that operates through websites and mobile applications
Who founded LinkedIn?
Allen Blue, Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Eric Ly developed LinkedIn on May 5, 2003.
When was LinkedIn founded?
Allen Blue, Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Eric Ly developed LinkedIn on May 5, 2003.
How does LinkedIn make money?
LinkedIn’s whole business strategy is based on job searches, network interactions, and connections.
