Tech News: LinkedIn IPO

Although not really personal property related, many appraisers are members and have profiles on LinkedIn. The IPO now has the LinkedIn share price initially selling at $45.00, and according to the LA Times that price may well increase when the stock hits the NY Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The IPO now gives a market capitalization of over $4 billion to LinkedIn. The article states LinkedIn has three revenue sources, including online ads, premium subscriptions and hiring tools for recruiters. I know there are several active LinkedIn personal property groups and many are very useful for discussions. Many are very active, with active members and strong discussion threads.  As appraisers, we should be using all tools available to communicate with both peers and potential clients, and LinkedIn is one of the better social networking sites that is geared toward businesses and not personal content.

The LA Times reports on LinkedIn

LinkedIn's initial public offering priced at $45 a share Wednesday.

Shares of the social networking service for professionals will begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LNKD.

The 8-year-old company will make its stock market debut with a value of $4.3 billion as investors clamor to get a piece of the most hotly anticipated IPO out of Silicon Valley in years and the biggest from a U.S. Internet company since Google set the gold standard nearly seven years ago when it went public.

In fact, its bankers boosted its price range this week, adding about $1 billion to LinkedIn's value.

Most analysts expect shares to rise Thursday.

Few Internet companies have tested the public waters since the dot-com crash. LinkedIn's lofty valuation -- some 20 times its 2010 revenue -- already has invited comparisons to the heyday of the last boom.

But the market's appetite for social networking companies, pent up for so long, seems to be running strong. And LinkedIn, which connects more than 100 million professionals online, has three revenue streams: online ads, premium subscriptions and hiring tools for recruiters.

LinkedIn's performance will be closely watched as a harbinger for other sought-after companies in the space such as Facebook, Groupon, Twitter and Zynga.

It will also mesmerize entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley who have seen private market valuations of social networking companies soar but have no clue what their businesses are worth in the public markets.