Posts Tagged ‘100 million’
The leading social network for professionals, LinkedIn, released the pricing details of its eagerly-awaited IPO this morning. the company intends to issue 7.8 million shares (under the proposed ticker LNKD) at a range of $32 to $35. At the mid-point, the valuation would be $3.3 billion.
Yet it’s a good bet that the opening price will be 30% to 40% higher when the shares hit the market — which will probably be in the next week or so.
Founded in 2003, LinkedIn is a pioneer in Web 2.0. the company is a kind of Rolodex for the 21st century, allowing professionals to network over the Internet — without putting up with those goofy family photos and embarassing comments from ex-girlfriends that can abound on other social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn is meant to be for professionals first, an imporant distinction that makes it unique.
LinkedIn’s growth rate has been consistently strong. Now the website has over 100 million members.
More importantly, LinkedIn has created a variety of revenue streams, which include advertising, hiring solutions and premium subscriptions. the professional focus of the network allows it to offer businesses offerings for a fee as opposed to trying to win over clicks or dollars from a consumer-oriented audience. In fact, the company doubled last year’s revenue to $243 million, with net income coming to $15.3 million thanks to professional services.
Although, it looks like the company will begin to sustain losses as it invests aggressively in its business. but as Amazon.com (NASDAQ: @ttaulli) showed in 1997 when it went public with plans to lose money for a full four years before seeing a profit, digital businesses can win big with an IPO even if operations are running in the red. Enough buzz is surrounding social media offerings that LinkedIn should see good momentum in its early days thanks to strong demand.
What’s more, the timing for the IPO is spot-on. Just last week,Renren(NYSE: @ttaulli) pulled-off a successful public offering. Known as the “Facebook of China,” the company sports a valuation of over $5 billion.
Actually, the shares are selling at more than 100 times 2010’s revenue. no doubt, this makes the LinkedIn IPO downright cheap with a multiple of 14.
It all adds up for an exciting IPO in the next week or two.
Tom Taulli’s latest book is “@ttaulli” and his Twitter account is @ttaulli. he does not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
Actor Daniel Craig is not one to mince words, he just tells it like it is. more often tan not the f-word is thrown in for good measure. here are some highlights from Craig’s recent interview with Esquire:
On career since landing the James Bond franchise: “I mean, since I’ve just become James Bond. and I think, you know, that means being something that people feel they own. and all of the sudden I’m getting magazine covers, when I got nothing for ten years before that. I say it’s just pure luck. and doing covers, people interviewing me, and they want to know everything and I’m going, I’m not gonna f—ing tell you!
PHOTOS: Daniel Craig Goes Shirtless In St. Barts
On The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: “It’s as adult as you can possibly make it. This is adult drama. I grew up, as we f*cking all did, watching The Godfather and that, movies that were made for adults. and this is a $100 million R-rated movie. nobody makes those anymore. and Fincher, he’s not holding back. They’ve given him free rein. he showed me some scenes recently, and my hand was over my mouth, going, are you f*cking serious?”
More from the article…
On his past: “Look, I’m gonna have to break my balls here to do this, so therefore you need to make a decision so I can plan the rest of my f—ing life.’ I mean, it’s like, you’re eighteen — let’s get on with this. I mean, that’s easy for me to say to you. oh, f—, I’m doing it to you now, aren’t I? on kids, it’s a different thing. but I do think there’s a — okay, ultimately at eighteen, I remember … you just don’t really know. and actually they kinda need someone to say, ‘F— it, just do what I tell you!’ and then, you know, for f—’s sake, if he’s there for a year and he’s really f—ing unhappy, he can change.”
On marketing: “[Y]ou just hope a generation’s gonna come who very soon is just gonna turn around and say, ‘Hang on a second. I don’t like being f—ing manipulated like this. I don’t like being told what to do, I don’t like being told what to buy’ — you kind of hope it’s gonna happen. and there’s gonna have to be a shift. I mean, the big companies will figure it out.”
On socio-economic class: “There are some f—ing seriously poor people, who are mixing with your diminishing middle class, and there’s a sort of ever-growing f—ing ruling class, and it’s like, it’s obvious.”
For more Daniel Craig, head on over to Esquire.