This presentation is a research project from students at San Francisco State University and is intended for educational purposes only, any other uses are strictly prohibited.
Agenda
• What is LinkedIn?• Company
background• Current business
model• Competitors• Sustaining success• Summary
What is LinkedIn?LinkedIn is a networking tool that enables people to establish, manage and build their professional network.
• Most powerful networking company in the world
• Scalable revenue model and clear vision for future growth
• Represent the gold standard of web 2.0 business
Logged out homepage screenshot
History of Growth• Founded Dec. 2002, launched May 2003• Current market reach continues to grow (see below)
Unique Visitors only counts a user once no matter how many times they visit the site in a given month—this is the industry standard for measuring a website popularity
Source: Compete.com
Reid Hoffman
Reid Hoffman, Chairman and CEO
▫ Chairman, CEO and Co-founder of
▫ Previously Executive Vice President of
▫ Background in management & technology
Known as..
“The most connected man in Silicon Valley”(which is practically/statistically true)
Reid is also involved with other successful start-ups, including;
Management Team
Steve Sordello, CFO• Previously served as Tivo, Inc.’s CFO• Was also CFO for AskJeeves, heading a turnaround strategy to turn the
company profitable again.
Jean-Luc Vaillant, CTO• Co-founder of LinkedIn• Previously was Director of Engineering for Logitech
Jeff Weiner, President• Oversees all day-to-day operations• Over 14 years of experience as an internet executive• Most recently spent seven years as Executive Vice President of Yahoo! Network Division
Kevin Eyres, Managing Director - Europe• Responsible for leading company strategy and growth• Has experience internationally as European Managing Director of SideStep and GM of
AltaVista International
Vision & MissionVision Become the new global medium for how business gets done.Mission Connect the world’s professionals to accelerate their success.
LinkedIn revenue model is based on 2 revenue streams, which include:
Revenue Model
1) Advertising Fees-4 basic advertising options for simple, clean and professional adsReach target customers directly Cohesive with the ‘User Experience’ by avoiding flashy/irritating ads
2) Premium Membership Fees- Generated from membership fees for upgrade accountsAdditional services for professionals to improve productivity
*These features are useful for marketing professionals, head hunters, etc
Membership ‘feature matrix’ screenshot
Revenue Model (cont)
Industry AnalysisProfessional Networking Site Industry (PNS)• LI is the gold standard for professional networking
Their current industry position in the broader SNS industry
Social Networking Site Industry (SNS) characteristics– Target markets slow to adopt– Hyper-Competition– Perpetual Innovation– Rapid technological developments
Competitor Analysis• Direct Competitors
• Indirect Competitors (numerous)
Market AnalysisTarget User Characteristics• Mostly males• Age 40 (approx)• No kids• Income $100k+• High Education level• California/New York
Sample User Profile
Company Growth
• Company– 33 employers to 345 as of January 2009– Memberships have more than doubled, surpassing 38 million
users as of March 2009– Projected Growth for 2011 (below)
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000Members
Members
Membership Statistics
Company Growth
PropertyAverage
AgeAverage
HHI%Comp Co Size <100
% Comp Business Decision Makers
% Comp That Read
Business Magazine
Last 30 Days
LinkedIn 41$109,70
326% 49% 29%
WSJ.com 48 $101,701 18% 40% 45%
Forbes.com 47 $93,896 18% 38% 47%
BusinessWeek.com 48 $95,668 18% 42% 51%
Company Growth
Company GrowthAdded Services: Building value proposition to Users
• LinkedIn Jobs• LinkedIn Mobile• Featured Apps:
iPhone App screenshot
•International expansion- Roughly half of the members are international users
•Currently available in six languages – Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish
Interest in LinkedIn by search volume
Company Growth
Interest in LinkedIn by search volume
Company Growth
• Investments
– Sequoia saw potential growth in LinkedIn and invested 4.7 million dollars in May 2003.
– Other important investors include;
Marketing
LinkedIn uses three main forms of marketing:
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)– Optimizing search results in search engines through carefully selected keywords and
being connected to other high-traffic websites.
• Viral Marketing– Offering free web-based services and products as a means of encouraging individuals
to create exposure for LinkedIn.
• Word-of-Mouth– Exposure created through the personal experiences and knowledge of
individuals.
Value addedLinkedIn also offers vital services that enhance
their overall product:
– LinkedIn Polls
– LinkedIn Answers
– Applications to create synergistic interactions• One-stop connection to blogs, business websites,
online calendars, and events.
Closing
• Young market with large growth potential
• Sustainable business model
• Unique product offering
Thank you for your time!
For additional info regarding this presentation, please contact Adam [email protected]
This presentation is a research project from students at San Francisco State University and is intended for educational purposed only, any other uses are strictly prohibited.