Chapter 97 LinkedIn's Executive Meeting

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"Boss, this is the LinkedIn member registration situation in October!"

After taking the information in Tim Duncan's hand and looking at it, Guo Shouyun couldn't help frowning.

"310,000?"

Although October is just over halfway through, this figure is nearly half compared to the same period in September. The number of Internet users in the United States grew by more than 10 million in October, which is incomprehensible by any means.

"Have you analyzed the reason?"

Tim Duncan nodded and said, "We did two thousand online surveys, and one of the problems reflected was that LinkedIn's product line was not rich enough. At the moment, we only have blogs and forums, and the content is too professional and elitist. LinkedIn News was just starting out, and its influence was limited. In addition, in the field of employment intermediaries, most companies and individuals still prefer physical intermediary companies and headhunters. Searching for a job online is relatively new to job seekers and most companies. Therefore, after the peak of the NASDAQ economic crisis passed, the number of registered members and activity of the LinkedIn website have declined to varying degrees. ”

"What about the solution? Have you thought about it?"

"Considered. … In response to the product line, we would like to add a 'library' site to the blog, forum and news to provide online documentation!" Tim Duncan continued.

"Library?"

This word Guo Shouyun is not unfamiliar, after the Internet has entered the mature stage, there are many websites that mainly provide online documents.

"Yes. LinkedIn is a professional networking site, and its core competitiveness is user experience. One of the key elements to improve the user experience is to provide adequate assistance in the career advancement of members. The promotion of positions will inevitably lead to the training and improvement of vocational skills. Vocational skills training is the job of the school, and what we can provide on LinkedIn is enough career information. These materials include study notes, teacher preparation materials, graduation theses, research papers, and analytical papers, all kinds of knowledge that can help improve skills and horizons. ”

“… Therefore, we wanted to develop a 'bunko' website that focuses on providing a wealth of knowledge in all aspects, and collaborated with high schools and universities to make their rich content available to more web users who need it. The content is subscription-based, and the subscription revenue of each material is divided between our website and educational institutions, or the individuals who provide the materials!"

"Very good idea. However, once the number of materials increases, it is necessary to find a way to select the best quality content and provide it to the people who need it. Otherwise, the mixed content will only affect the user experience of the website and reduce our revenue on the library. Also, the price of a document should not be too high. Otherwise, it will cost a dozen dollars or even more to write a paper or research report, and no one will use such a website. Guo Shouyun thought about it for a while and said.

In later generations, websites such as Baidu Library, Douding, and Daoke Baba all belong to the 'library' category, and Guo Shouyun is naturally able to put forward some long-term suggestions. Moreover, he is still optimistic about the development of such websites in the United States and Europe, after all, it is still relatively in China, where the legal provisions of copyright in Western society and the public's legal awareness are relatively perfect and good.

Of course, he didn't rely on his previous knowledge to dictate LinkedIn management such as Tim Duncan. Give them plenty of freedom to solve problems when they arise. This will motivate them more to work.

"We also take this into account. So for the time being, the average price of the warehousing documents is 2 cents. Then according to the subscription rate and praise, make certain adjustments in the price!"

Guo Shouyun nodded and continued: "In addition to asking for the price, you also have to solve another problem: that is, to ensure that after the user searches, the files that appear are the highest-rated high-quality content. Only by allowing users to find the most valuable content in the shortest time can the user stickiness of the website be improved. ”

"Understood!" After nodding, Tim Duncan recorded Guo Shouyun's opinion in his work notes.

"Is the website live?"

"Not yet, the progress provided by the development department is at the end of October!"

Guo Shouyun nodded knowingly, originally he also wanted to remind Tim Duncan about online education. But it's still too early to think about it. The existing Internet conditions are not up to the level of Internet distance education, so there is no opening.

"Tell us about your solutions in the field of 'employment intermediary'?" Guo Shouyun said.

"The establishment of a separate LinkedIn human resources company can be divided into two different departments, headhunters and ordinary intermediaries, to carry out comprehensive offline services. Tim Duncan nodded.

“… The reason why LinkedIn's business has been slow is because many employers are accustomed to offline recruitment, and instinctively take precautions and vigilance against the nascent Internet, which happens to be during the NASDAQ crisis, which has exacerbated this trend. We carry out offline entities, which is to use this familiar way to open the market first. In this way, we will not only be able to expand the number of third-party employers that we work with LinkedIn, but also drive more users to register with LinkedIn!"

Guo Shouyun nodded knowingly. In fact, Tim Duncan's idea is the concept of 'Internet +' in later generations. Of course, the concept is a bit ahead of its time, but it's not entirely new. It's just that no one has come up with the concept. However, Tim Duncan was able to think of this method, which made Guo Shouyun a little impressed by him. After all, not everyone can break through the shackles of 'birdcage logic' and combine the Internet with the real economy.

"I'm glad you think of that. As for funding, I'll figure it out. In addition, let's not take too big a step at the beginning, and start with offline store services in San Francisco to see how it works. After accumulating experience, you can also save some money and reduce the risk as much as possible. Guo Shouyun said.

"Understood!" Tim Duncan nodded.

"Deng Ke, how much money do you have in the company's account now?"

Dunko Verne, who used to work at Bank of America, just became the CFO of LinkedIn. Previously, this position had been held by Tim Duncan. Although he did a good job, he was not a professional at all, and as the company grew, he was no longer suitable for the position. Moreover, the CEO concurrently serving as CFO was originally an expedient measure for Guo Shouyun's lack of suitable talents.

"There are also 5.784 million US dollars, monthly expenses of 1.253 million, and income of 157,000!"

"Will this money keep LinkedIn going until the end of the year?"

"If you don't have a big expansion of your offline stores, you can!"

Guo Shouyun nodded knowingly. Now 65% of LinkedIn's spending is personnel salaries, and the salary of nearly 500 people is not a small amount, which is also the fastest growth of all LinkedIn spending. The second is server investment, which accounts for 30% of the total investment, which was even higher before, but as the number of LinkedIn signups declined, the expansion slowed. As for property fees, miscellaneous business operating expenses have not grown fast, and the proportion is not much.

"Frank, you are in human resources, and you used to be a senior executive of Egon Zehnder, are you interested in getting LinkedIn HR offline entities now?"

Guo Shouyun's eyes looked at the middle-aged man sitting second on the left, wearing a black suit and smiling.

Frank Arnell's eyes flashed with thought, "Boss, does LinkedIn Human Resources operate as a business unit, or does it set up a separate subsidiary?"

"What do you think?"

"I think we can save costs by operating the ordinary employment intermediary business in the form of a business unit directly under the head office. Then the headhunting business is separated to form a separate subsidiary, because the value of professional information for middle and senior professionals is very high and profitable. Moreover, headhunters and ordinary intermediaries have different service forms and business methods, and if they are mixed up, it is not conducive to shaping their respective brand value. ”

Guo Shouyun nodded clearly, and looked around at everyone after a little thought, "What do you think?"

"I support Frank's point of view that employment agencies focus on the simple supply of talent, that fees can be charged both individually and collectively, that they focus on quantity, and that they are not responsible for the results of their recommendations. The target of headhunting services is usually high-end talents in various industries, and his distinctive characteristics are high education, high level and high income. For the candidates recommended by the headhunting company, after entering the position, they will be tracked, help the candidate analyze the problem, assist the candidate to quickly adapt to the working environment, and if the candidate is dismissed during the probation period, the headhunter will also bear the corresponding compensation responsibility. There is an essential difference in the level of service between the two sides and should be treated differently. Dunko Verne spoke first.

"If you treat them differently, then LinkedIn and LinkedIn headhunters have to take two different development plans. Needless to say, headhunting is naturally dominated by urban agglomerations where large companies are concentrated. But what about LinkedIn's development, is it a zoning system, or is it a branch office in each state?" said Tim George.

"I propose a zoning system, merge several states into a district, set up a LinkedIn branch, and recruit a certain number of salespeople. For small-scale recruitment, we only provide candidates. If it is a large-scale recruitment of more than 50 people, we can send sales personnel to do some on-site coordination. At the same time, these salespeople, in addition to offline recruitment services, can also serve as a hub for communication when LinkedIn library, news and other content have offline business needs. Frank Arnell said seriously.

After everyone spoke, their eyes were once again focused on Guo Shouyun, as the chairman, this kind of major event related to the future of the company, in the end, he came to make the idea. In fact, after listening to their suggestions, Guo Shouyun had already made a decision in his heart.