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Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26B

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Re: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26B

#771

Post by argonaut »

_yosefk wrote: post #237
argonaut wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I had LinkedIn on my list of undervalued tech stocks, and I think this bears that out. LinkedIn has absolutely no competition. LinkedIn is the world's biggest, virtually-complete graph of most enterprise organizational charts / structures. That alone will be valuable for Microsoft's enterprise business.

MS could, erm, look up those org charts on linkedin.com for $0 (indeed very useful at times.) What value is added by buying LinkedIn for $26G? How owning LinkedIn is going to add $1-1.5B/year (assuming eventually you want a P/E between, I dunno, 15 and 25), to MS's revenue? (I'm sure someone at MS has an answer to this, it's just that they haven't been tremendously successful in the past with their big acquisitions;…

They, erm, can't do that. Scraping LinkedIn would violate the terms of service.

Re: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26B

#772

Post by 2bitencryption »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #203
mwambua wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Skype is one of the more regrettable acquisitions. Linux support has been deplorable ever since.

I've always assumed that was part of the embrace-extend-extinguish - "look at this shitty OS, Skype doesn't even work on there; you should use Win X".

Skype already works on OS X (ahem, macOS) and Windows, arguably the only two desktop operating systems with a significant amount of users. It still works on those two operating systems. So what are they extinguishing? And also what are they even embracing? They bought it outright. I don't think EEE, which hasn't really been a MS thing since the 90's, is even the proper term for this at all.

Re: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26B

#773

Post by c_c_c »

malka wrote: post #697
vtlynch wrote: post #684

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is the main problem: Who likes LinkedIn? Sure, we can debate its usefulness, how popular it is outside of IT, etc. But I think across the board, no one LIKES LinkedIn.

You dont need to be liked to be popular. How many people like facebook ?

Facebook is irritating and intrusive. LinkedIn is spam. It's garbage used because legacy and lack of alternative.

Re: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26B

#774

Post by c_c_c »

whack wrote: post #502

This is a fantastic move for Microsoft, and IMO, a premature throwing-in-the-towel moment for LinkedIn. At $26B, that's less than 10% of Facebook's market-cap. That's a steal for the world's biggest Social-Professional Network, and the medium through which most recruiting could conceivably happen in the future. Given that MS currently has no social presence at all, but has a fantastic enterprise sales channel, Linked…

LinkedIn at 10% of Facebook's cap is super over valued. It's pure spam. Everyone is suggesting Microsoft will improve, add features! It would have been better and cheaper to create from scratch. LinkedIn exists in a space that none of the big player care to enter seriously.

Re: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26B

#775

Post by c_c_c »

simonswords82 wrote: post #532
cm2187 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it was a "mistake" by an isolated team. I don't think the Windows team would change that fundamentally Microsoft's core product without the management's OK.

I agree that a manager somewhere in the organisation did OK this change but that's one person. I don't believe he or she is representative of the hundred thousand people that Microsoft employ.

What makes you say that? Why do you think this is rogue employee behavior?

Re: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26B

#776

Post by c_c_c »

oblio wrote: post #28
satysin wrote: post #4

Holy fuck that is a lot of money. How on earth is LinkedIn worth anywhere near that?!

Unlike Snapchat or Instagram, which could very likely turn into MySpace 2.0 or 3.0, Linkedin is actually very entrenched in its market.

This is the most bizarre thing I've heard. People want Snapchat, Instagram. People have LinkedIn. No one wants it. It's a dinosaur. People using it actively just haven't realized it's dead already.

Re: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26B

#777

Post by jacquesm »

minusSeven wrote: post #335
mrweasel wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It think the negativity is mostly due to the price tag. If I was a shareholder I would be furious over Microsoft paying $26billion for a money losing company. Even if Microsoft see some potential the rest of us aren't, and we have to assume that they are, they still need to find a way to turn a profit on the deal. Given that they bought Nokia, only to shut it down, more or less, it would be reasonable for the shareho…

I think first thing to happen is lot of linked in employees getting fired. Since linked in employs a lot of people.

Guess where they'll be updating their resumes?

Re: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26B

#778

Post by rhizome »

hackaflocka wrote: post #648
ssharp wrote: post #635

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a Fortune 200 headquartered in my area that, by far, has the worst application process and software I've ever seen. Aside from REQUIRING you to type in information like your high school's address and your high school GPA, they also have pre-screening booby-traps which you may need to lie to get past (e.g. my wife was applying for an HR job there and they asked if she had a bachelor's degree in HR, which she…

Great story. It's a sure sign that a strong bureaucracy has set in when one sees this. It's common in government organizations, but becoming more common in non-government (especially large) organizations.

It's common on Craigslist amongst the spamming services [sic] like Resumator, Sourcery, etc. Furthermore, experience has taught me that any time I see a job ad on LinkedIn that says, "Apply on Company Website," I assume there will be a tedious form to fill out (not to mention account creation).

Re: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26B

#779

Post by c_c_c »

Pxtl wrote: post #563
adellee wrote: post #56

" Will continue to operate independently ". Why do they even say that. Microsoft didn't pay 20billion for a passive investment. Such a silly thing to say.

And either way, as an MS and LI user, I want MS to meddle. I want them to fix the dumpster-fire that is LinkedIn. Nobody likes LinkedIn except recruiters.

It won't be fixed. If anything it will be worse...

Re: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26B

#780

Post by rhizome »

cm2187 wrote: post #146
simonswords82 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because one team on Windows 10 made a huge mistake doesn't mean the entirety of Microsoft is full of people looking to fill the world with dark patterns. They employ about 50,000 engineers last time I checked...

I don't think it was a "mistake" by an isolated team. I don't think the Windows team would change that fundamentally Microsoft's core product without the management's OK.

I'm having trouble parsing the concept of an "isolated team" at a company like Microsoft, especially where a major OS revision is involved.
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