Linkedin IPO: Customer Centricity and Conflict

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Linkedin, the social network for career professionals, had its initial public offering today (IPO). They are now traded on the NASDAQ with the ticker symbol as LNKD. Apparently, the Linkedin IPO went really well today – which now has a market cap of $8.9 Billion.

But, I’m not here to talk bout Wall Street or Corporate Finance. What got my attention was what Linkedin wrote in its Linkedin IPO SEC Filing:

Our core value of putting our members first may conflict with the short-term interests of our business.

One of our core values is to make decisions based on the best interests of our members, which we believe is essential to our success in increasing our member growth rate and engagement and in serving the best, long-term interests of the company and our stockholders.

Therefore, in the past, we have forgone, and may in the future forgo, certain expansion or short-term revenue opportunities that we do not believe are in the best interests of our members, even if our decision negatively impacts our operating results in the short term.

In addition, as part of our philosophy of putting our members first, as long as our members are adhering to our terms of service, this philosophy may cause disagreements, or negatively impact our relationships, with our existing or prospective customers. This could result in enterprises and professional organizations blocking access to our website or refusing to purchase our hiring or marketing solutions or premium subscriptions. Our decisions may not result in the long-term benefits that we expect, in which case our member engagement, business and operating results could be harmed.

In a time when money drives most companies’ decisions, it is refreshing to see honesty and a focus on customers – especially when it is risky to do so, such as during and IPO.

I don’t know enough about Linkedin to say whether they truly live by what they claim on their IPO Filing, but I find this fact refreshing.

	This post was written by Pete Abilla