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Random anecdote from the early days of LinkedIn: around 2004 or 2005, I remember reading a news story where a Monster.com exec was asked if they'd want to acqui
by lpolovets 10y ago
Random anecdote from the early days of LinkedIn: around 2004 or 2005, I remember reading a news story where a Monster.com exec was asked if they'd want to acquire LinkedIn. This is back when LinkedIn only had 1m or 2m members while Monster was the leader in the job postings space. The exec responded with something like, "LinkedIn is still very small and unproven, but I suspect that if they succeed, Monster wouldn't be able to afford them." Interesting to see that in 2016, Monster got purchased for ~1.5% of LinkedIn's acquisition value. (In 2004, LinkedIn was probably 1.5% of Monster's value -- if that.)
- themartorana 10y agoAs I was reading that I expected the quote to be dismissive and flip. At least the guy had a level head on and understood the market.
- richiezc 10y agoThat is great. Random anecdote from the sort of early days (2008 or 2009): We had hit some membership milestone and Dan Nye who had taken over from Reid as CEO said something like: "Who's the Monster now?" This clip was actually filmed but never released as we were still tiny in comparison.
- vadym909 10y agoI'm not sure what the exec meant? It can be a failure or a huge success? This is such a generic statement
- ejcx 10y agoThat sounds like exactly the type of thing you would want to/have to acquire, right? I think a good example is Instagram. 1b sounded like a lot, but it now looks like a grand bargain.
- ben_jones 10y agoDoesn't mean they had the capital to do it or that their business strategy / growth strategy at the time allowed them to do it. Just looking at the logistics of merging two companies it is completely reasonable that the experience and talent to make it work (like a few really good office managers) weren't there.