Big day yesterday for LinkedIn going public. As TechCrunch chronicled, the valuation went past everyone’s expectations and hit $8.9 Billion. Couple of takeaways come immediately to mind. LinkedIn provided a platform, but it was identified user interaction which provided the value — that is a big change from anonymous visitor or simple user rollups. The b2b nature of LinkedIn showed that value could be achieved in the b2b and not simply the consumer space. The revenue opportunity for LinkedIn continues to shift (I think) from pushing users to sign up for premium services to providing a b2b community space with sponsored messaging. And, hey LinkedIn, you get the money, but can’t we users at least get a thank-you note for making your platform so valuable?
