Thoughts on MS buying LinkedIn

[mikepalma]

What would you buy on LinkedIn??? It's not a shop.

I don't use the paid subscription because it's not essential for me. If I was in a different position I probably would.

So the answer, like everyone else, is no I have spent zero on the site..

 

[mikepalma]

I predict they will do like this:
1.Pay up 26 billion USD
2.Stop any feature development for 2 years while they remake the core of the LinkedIn system
3.Release the ?new? LinkedIn which has almost the same features as the LinkedIn we know today (but without the finesse and also lacking some appreciated core functionality)
4.Release some new ?LinkedIn for students?, "LinkedIn for pets" and "LinkedIn for dead people" that all will flop
5.Find out that the userbase is shrinking and therefore transform LinkedIn to a simple ?Facebook plug in?
6.Fire 95% of the employees

(As a "bonus" they might screw up the posibillities to use any local language outside US. IF someone moves across a boarder, his LinkedIn account will stop working. Chronological order for this is unknown...)

The future has the answer?

Don't forget:
Start an extremely long beta program in which loyal customers provide feedback to a mostly non-functional and frustrating alpha which turns the relatively few loyal customers into angered critics, diminishing the overstated user base forcing a $26 billion write-off

 

[N_LaRUE]

So the answer, like everyone else, is no I have spent zero on the site..

If I was still a contractor I probably would consider a subscription as it would be useful to have.

A lot of recruitment companies have subscriptions and I'm sure they sell data.

 

[digitaldd]

Just don't create an account for me on the service if I don't want one.

 

[etphoto]

I just checked with my wife and she says she uses it to make contacts. For me, I have no opinion on the purchase. Apparently MS thinks its a good deal.

Sent from my Surface 3

 

[Johnny Tremaine]

Whilst I don't use LinkedIn that much I can see the obvious benefits with Office and Windows integration.

Ugh. That's what I'm afraid of. I can see myself typing a document in Word (either full purchase or subscription), and then a prompt appears: " I see that you're typing a resume, would you like to upload it to LinkedIn? "

If that type of cross marketing is going to be a thing, it will get hair pullingly annoying, very quickly.

 

[groady-ho baluzy]

I thought I read somewhere last year where LinkedIn was valued at $2.6 billion or something like that. Maybe it was Forbes or wsj. Either way I think MS way overpaid.
Just my 2cents

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[Jordan_Musser]

Where everyone is failing to see the benefit of this acquisition is in Microsoft's core software today. They will utilize LinkedIn to embed in their software. No longer will you get an email from a random third party offering you a product and you have no idea who they are. Through Outlook and LinkedIn when you get that email it will give you the details of the user without you having to search.
HR will now be able to use LinkedIn through Outlook when setting up interviews or doing background checks.
There is a lot more to this than just utilizing LinkedIn to "connect" with friends. Microsoft has some plans that both the MSFT CEO and LinkedIn CEO mentioned about using Microsoft's cloud business, I have no idea where that would go but their is a plan to this.
And enough with the Nokia acquisition, yes it looks bad financially and from an ethical standpoint to layoff all those employees, but I can guarantee you by that purchase and vision Nokia had the team at Microsoft which is now reasponsible for the Windows Phones (the Surface Team) will deliver and amazing product in the coming months and that will have to do with what they learned from the Nokia deal.

 

[Great deal]

I own and run an IT recruitment company. Linkedin makes most of its revenue from corporate recruiters advertising jobs and agencies (and sales departments) buying subscriptions. Linkedin is used by pretty much every recruiter around the world as its a great way to find people for jobs they have. I started using Linkedin several years ago and have seen the changes from awful, you turns and great features. Its a different animal than what it was. This news is good (IMO) as long as Microsoft leave Linkedin alone (as they have said they will) to do what they do and just integrate deeply into the Microsoft product stacks. Exciting to see where this goes. As for is it worth it....Linkedin made 3 Billion last year, and with MS they can make a lot more, MS got a good deal.

 

[HeyCori]

Ballmer tried to make Microsoft a more consumer focused company. Nadella is trying to make Microsoft a more focused company. Nadella is cutting the head off projects and strategies that aren't working while taking Microsoft back to it's core. He wants to make Microsoft THE backend, productivity company. I think this is where acquisitions like LinkedIn and Xamarian are coming from. Just look at their acquisitions from the past two years. They're not buying up chip manufacturers and entertainment studios. They're buying companies they can integrate into existing productivity suites. Potentially, LinkedIn is a great acquisition, one that may lead to hundreds of millions of users that are reliant on Microsoft's vast array of tools and services.

 

[Canjok]

I only pray it won't be the same as with skype...

 

[gpobernardo]

I'm not sure about LinkedIn in other countries, but what I've noticed in the US is that everyone registers for it and creates an account, but nobody bothers with it. It's something one might check if he/she gets a new contact request once in a while, but it doesn't get used regularly.

It's the same in my country in Southeast Asia, where even some of the semi-homeless have a Facebook account. And that's exactly what I do, although I've installed the LinkedIn app in my phone - I only open it when I receive a notification.

I think MS is demonstrating their intention of focusing more on services than on hardware with this one, in contrast to the acquisition of Nokia years ago.

 

[cracgor]

I really don't understand the move, but someone thinks it is useful. LinkedIn generates revenue by selling ads primarily, but loses almost 200million dollars a year. So unless it starts turning a profit, I don't see how spending 26billion on it is a wise decision. Even if it was making 500 million in profits, it would still take 50 years to get back to zero assuming no interest or opportunity cost.

 

[Great deal]

Most people in enterprise have a linkedin account or use linkedin (HR departments of all companies do) Microsoft will make HUGE money by selling other services with deep linkedin integration, they are not relying on Linkedin on its own. Those figures I guess are something we will not really see.

 

[Jose_Vasquez]

It's funny, becouse it can be...

 

[jmshub]

I think there is a subset of people who use LinkedIn who really buy into it. I have a friend and former coworker, who works hard to curate his contacts and skill sets on LinkedIn. It's no surprise that he is very career driven and looking to move up. He said he has gotten job offers based in part to his LinkedIn, but so far, he is still at the same job.

I can see a potential benefit of LinkedIn, but I don't see how it was a good acquisition for Microsoft, and that valuation sounds awfully high to me.

 

[gjbcapital]

True. I read a new york times article saying net income is even worse cause there is a stock options compensation to employees that doesn't count as cost so loses are higher. I don't know what MS have in mind but I find it difficult to see a reason this company worth that amount of money.

 

[SynthDude]

All in all....right now I think it would be smarter if they spit that money in commercial's and promotion for their new os and these 3 new phones.
I really never seen one tv commercial for windows phone in my life not on local stations nor on cable yet there are tons of ones for android and iPhones....

 

[Jakoh]

Now, imagine if Microsoft ploughed that amount of money into Windows Phone?

We'd surely then get at least a Starbucks app

But they wont own starbucks.

 

[Krystianpants]

It's more about the patents and expertise on data mining. Catching up to companies like facebook. Satya doesn't do things just for the heck of it. The integration with office isn't going to be the biggest selling point for them, it will simply give more reason for the acquisition in the public eye. Though it's still going to be beneficial no doubt, but that wouldn't be why that many billions of dollars were wasted on the acquisition.