Thoughts on MS buying LinkedIn

[laevanay]

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?

Love your post... this is EXACTLY like the Yammer, Skype, and Nokia acquisition.

 

[desitunez]

To put in context Facebook bought whatsapp for 19 billion

 

[Roderick Aspiras]

I just can't get over how LinkedIn is worth $26billion. Like its a way to search for new jobs so many corporation actually blocks it except for HR that needs to recruit people. I think Microsoft has more money than apple or google but its stashed somewhere hehehehe.

 

[Ryujingt3]

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.

This.

 

[Daniel Gilbert M]

As a graduate searching for jobs, I find LinkedIn very useful.
All of my friends are in LinkedIn and i can keep track of where they are currently employed at.

 

[Great deal]

If your a professional and not on linkedin your linkedout and missing on hundreds of opportunities. A lot of the creme de la creme aka Subject Matter Experts are not on there as they get bombarded with new job requests as they are the best. If your not an SME and a professional and not on Linked in then you are simply missing out. There are alos groups on linkedin where you can share and discuss topics, I own some of the worlds largest in certain tech areas and its a great resource, I love MS (compared to the 'others') and created a Hololens group the day it was announced, the head of Hololens hiring at Microsoft uses it to find people, thats just one example of many many. Take the time and get on it

 

[MicrosoftEdu]

By acquiring LinkedIn, Microsoft has also acquired SlideShare Which is world's largest PPT sharing platform & Learning Management system. It will help microsoft users to create & upload resume, ppts, pdfs on a website that is acquired by microsoft. It is also expected that this change will lead to a massive change in Education industry. India has a huge user base for LinkedIn & Slideshare. Let's hope for the best!

 

[Pete]

 

[toph36]

You are right to an extent. They have 433M users, but 100M+ are active users. Still, the network is growing and they are still expanding internationally. They could be over 1 billion within the next 10 years.

 

[toph36]

This is not like those other acquisitions. Nokia was a dying business when Microsoft bought it. Yammer is a niche product, and Skype is too easily replicated by other apps. LinkedIn is a network of professionals that is not easily replicated. I am on Facebook and LinkedIn. There is very little overlap in my contacts on the two sites, other than close friends and family. As long as the focus is the integrate LinkedIn into Microsoft products, this should be successful. Still, the LinkedIn site could use some improvements.

 

[Ryujingt3]

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?

You missed out these points.

7. Due to lack of employees, create a LinkedIn insider program for 'fans' to test the releases.
8. Create a perpetual insider product that 'is never finished' so nobody is ever accountable if it fails or bricks your devices.

 

[Joel Zerpa]

Waste of money, lack of attention to their products and gifts to the competition, the formula of the destruction of Microsoft. Personally in my opinion we are seeing the twilight and decline of Microsoft, Satya Nadella placed the coffin nails...

 

[rromerof]

I get the feeling this is mostly about the huge network of professionals who are more likely to use MS software rather than the average consumer who could be a student or a person using basic services

In addition to that, I could think that Microsoft find it useful as a source of statistical information of platform usage, as well as BI. LinkedIn is a great source for Data Mining.

 

[michail71]

I used to used LinkedIn quite a bit more in the past. However, at some point they started locking it down a bit much and charging way too much money for the premium services. Now it's mostly recruiters and talent scouts using it.

IMHO, MS should open it back up to add back the mass appeal it once had. That's the only way I see it getting some value.

 

[Great deal]

I used to used LinkedIn quite a bit more in the past. However, at some point they started locking it down a bit much and charging way too much money for the premium services. Now it's mostly recruiters and talent scouts using it.

IMHO, MS should open it back up to add back the mass appeal it once had. That's the only way I see it getting some value.

Exactly! I used it when it first started up, you could create groups and everyone who joined that group, you had thier email address. I know some people who have databases of email addresses numbering in the 100,000's all in a particular field (SAP modules for example) - your right though, they moneytised it by removing functionality bit by bit. Its lost its soul, groups and udates are an after thought, its all about making money which is understandably turning people off. MS can hopefully add a new dimension.

 

[anon(9759897)]

Minecraft was a good buy I think.

 

[Ben Wolgus]

Lot's of companies get bought for more than they are worth. The full Nokia purchase was written off, AOL was famously over valued during their Time Warner merger, and Microsoft just overpaid for LinkedIn.

 

[The Lumia God]

MS buying LinkedIn is great since there going towards enterprise levels etc.

 

[cracgor]

8. Create a perpetual insider product that 'is never finished' so nobody is ever accountable if it fails or bricks your devices.

Good sarcasm, but you don't understand. This is just an extension of the Windows as a Service model. It means Windows, Skype, and Linkedin now will never be completed and constantly updated. It is totally different than how they used to run things. They used to release software that was by and large completed and then improved through updates and service packs. Now the software is never completed even after frequent updates and service packs. This is a much better way to run things for consumers, developers, and OEMs.

 

[dlalonde]

I didn't do this but found it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/4nw9ro/im_beta_testing_the_new_microsoft_linkedin/