If LinkedIn can sustain a price above, say, $75 a share, BOFA and Morgan should have sold 


it to institutions at $60. Because the stock was instead sold at $45, LinkedIn and its existing 


investors just got screwed to the tune of $175 million.






That means folks like us get to write breathless stories about how much money investors


are making and how everyone's partying like it's 1999.

                                        Happy? Of course. But not as happy as he deserves to be.

CONGRATULATIONS, LINKEDIN! You Just Got Screwed Out Of $130 Million

www.businessinsider.com

I Create my Day!

Excerpt from Dr. Joe Dispenza's interview from What the bleep do we Know on creating my day. If you want to know more or understand fully what he is talking about I suggest you watch the film "What The Bleep do We Know."

U.S. IPO Pipeline Continues To Swell!

IPO Pipeline

The following is a list of companies that are planning initial public offerings. Updated as of Monday, September 26, 2011.

Source: Federal Filings.

Date refers to when plans for the offering were filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Shares refer to millions of shares that are being offered. Price refers to the price range at which the stock is expected to be offered. Shares outstanding refers to millions of shares that will be outstanding, including those closely held. Managers refer the the underwriters of the offering.

---

IPOs Registered In 2011
Company                  Date     Shares  Price       Managers*

Active Network            2/14/11   N/A      N/A          N/A 
Ally Financial Inc.       3/31/11   N/A      N/A          C,GS,JP,MS 
Aleris Corporation        4/26/11   N/A      N/A          N/A 
Alexander Mortgage REIT   3/7/11    N/A      N/A          N/A 
American Realty Cap Inc.  2/11/11   8.8     $12.50        N/A 
Angie's List, Inc.        8/25/11   N/A      N/A          BA 
Ares Commercial Real Est. 9/14/11   N/A      N/A          WF,C,BA,JP 
Argos Therapeutics, Inc.  7/19/11   N/A      N/A          LZ,CAN,ND,BMO 
Aspen Aerogels, Inc.      6/24/11   N/A      N/A          GS,MS 
Avenue Capital Mortgage   6/29/11   N/A      N/A          N/A 
Banctec, Inc.             5/13/11   N/A      N/A          WB,ND,DAV 
BATS Global Markets Inc.  5/13/11   N/A      N/A          C,CS,MS,WE,RJ,SAND 
Bazaarvoice, Inc.         8/26/11   N/A      N/A          MS,DB,CS 
Bluestem Brands, Inc.     4/21/11   N/A      N/A          DB,PJ,O,WB 
Brightcove Inc.           8/24/11   N/A      N/A          MS,STIF 
Bonanza Creek Energy Inc.  6/7/11   N/A      N/A          MS 
Bond Street Holdings Inc. 5/16/11   N/A      N/A          DB,JP 
BrightSource Energy Inc.  4/22/11   N/A      N/A          GS,C,DB 
CafePress                 6/10/11   N/A      N/A          JPM,CO,JF 
The Carlyle Group          9/6/11   N/A      N/A          JPM,C,CS 
Cathay Industrial Biotech 7/19/11   6.9      $12-$14      MS,DB,JF 
Chesapeake Granite Wash Tr 7/7/11   N/A      N/A          MS,RJ 
Community Choice Fin      8/23/11   N/A      N/A          JF,CS,STE 
Cornerstone OnDemand      3/16/11   10.5    $13.00        GS,BC,WB,PJ,PC,JMP 
Cloudary Corp.            5/24/11   N/A      N/A          BA,GS 
Clovis Oncology Inc.      6/23/11   N/A      N/A          JPM,CS,LR 
Cortina Systems Inc.      3/16/11   N/A      N/A          JP,BC,PJ,ND,O,ROTH 
CPG International Inc.    4/22/11   N/A      N/A          BC,DB,CS 
Crown Auto Holdings       1/10/11    3       N/A          N/A 
CyOptics, Inc.            8/12/11   N/A      N/A          JP, BC 
Delphi Automotive PLC     5/25/11   N/A      N/A          GS,JP,BA,BC,MS,DB 
Demandware, Inc.          7/15/11   N/A      N/A          GS,DB 
Digital Domain Media Grp  5/16/11   22.25    $16-$18      BC,JMP 
Dynamic Offshore Res.     8/26/11   N/A      N/A          C,CS,DB,TUD,UBS 
Eloqua Limited            8/24/11   N/A      N/A          JP,DB,JMP,NEED,PC 
Enduro Royalty Trust      5/16/11   13.2     N/A          BC 
Enphase Energy, Inc.      6/15/11   N/A      N/A          MS,BA,JF,LZ,THIN 
EPAM Systems, Inc.        6/10/11   N/A      N/A          C,UBS,BC 
Era Group Inc.             8/1/11   N/A      N/A          GS,JP,DB 
ESCO Corporation           5/2/11   N/A      N/A          GS,MS 
Exa Corp.                  8/3/11   N/A      N/A          SN,BD,CAN,NEED 
FTS International          9/9/11   N/A      N/A          BA,C,GS,CS 
FX Alliance Inc.          9/19/11   N/A      N/A          BA,C,GS,JP 
Forum Energy Technologies  9/1/11   N/A      N/A          JP 
GCT Semiconductor         9/15/11   N/A      N/A          GS,BA,CO,O 
Genomatica, Inc.          8/23/11   N/A      N/A          MS,JP,JF,PJ 
Global Eagle Acquisition  2/15/11   20.2     $10          C 
Global Market Group Ltd.  2/25/11   2        $6-$7        DB,PJ,CW,LZ,O 
Grand Farm Inc.           5/12/11   N/A      N/A          NEW 
Greenwich Kahala Aviation 1/6/11    N/A      N/A          N/A 
Greenway Medical Tech Inc.7/15/11   N/A      N/A          JP,MS,WB,PJ,RJ 
Groupon                    6/2/11   N/A      N/A          MS,GS,CS 
GSE Holdings, Inc.        7/11/11   N/A      N/A          JF,O 
Guidewire Software Inc.    9/2/11 
Haiwang Resources & Tech   2/2/11   5.2      N/A          CCM 
Home Loan Servicing       2/24/11  18.3      $15          BC, WF 
ILFC Holdings Inc.         9/2/11   N/A      N/A          C,JP,MS 
Imperva, Inc.             6/17/11   N/A      N/A          JP,DB,LZ,RBC,PC 
Impinj, Inc.              4/21/11   N/A      N/A          MS,JP,NEED,PC,RJ 
Inergy Midstream, LLC     8/24/11   N/A      N/A          MS,BC 
Inland Core Assets        9/12/11   180      $9.50-$10    N/A 
Inland Western Retail     2/14/11   N/A      N/A          C,DB,JP,KEY 
Jive Software, Inc.       8/24/11   N/A      N/A          MS,GS,C,UBS 
JTH Holdings Inc.          9/2/11   N/A      N/A          JF,SUN 
Laredo Petroleum Hldgs.   8/24/11   N/A      N/A          JP,GS,BA,WF 
Latrobe Specialty Metals  5/25/11   N/A      N/A          CS,FBR,JF,KEY,CO 
Liposcience, Inc.         6/23/11   N/A      N/A          BC,UBS,PJ 
Loyalty Alliance Corp.    7/22/11   N/A      N/A          MAC 
Luca Technolgies Inc.     6/29/11   N/A      N/A          UBS,C,PJ 
MacDermid Group Inc.      7/11/11   N/A      N/A          CS,MS,DB 
Manning & Napier Inc.      7/1/11   N/A      N/A          BA 
Mascoma Corp.             9/18/11   N/A      N/A          MS,UBS,CS 
Matador Resources Co.     8/12/11   N/A      N/A          RB,C 
Matress Firm Hldgs Corp.  6/10/11   N/A      N/A          BC,UBS,WB 
M/A-COM Tech Solutions     8/1/11   N/A      N/A          BC,JP,JF 
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals  7/8/11   N/A      N/A          JP,BA 
Midland States Bancorp,   5/13/11    5       $15-$17      SAND,STIF 
MOBITV, INC.              8/31/11   N/A      N/A          JP,DB,BD,WB,PC 
Momentive Perf Materials  4/22/11   N/A      N/A          N/A 
New Source Energy Corp.   8/29/11   N/A      N/A          BMO,KEY 
Nexx Systems, Inc.        6/22/11   7        $5.50-$7     NEED,OP,CAN,CARI 
North American Fin Hldgs  6/23/11   N/A      N/A          CS,BA,GS 
Neutron Energy Inc.       3/30/11   N/A      N/A          ROTH 
Newgistics Inc.           3/9/11    N/A      N/A          STIF,PJ,BBT,WB 
NewLink Genetic Corp.     2/28/11   N/A      N/A          WF,CAN,BD,CO,ND 
NetQin Mobile Inc.        3/16/11   N/A      N/A          PJ 
Nationstar Mortgage Hldgs 5/16/11   N/A      N/A          N/A 
Party City Hldgs Inc.     4/22/11   N/A      N/A          GS,BA,BC,DB,CS,MS,WFC 
PetroLogistics LP         6/21/11   N/A      N/A          MS,C,UBS,WFC 
Proto Labs, Inc.          7/22/11   N/A      N/A          JF,PJ 
Provident Mortgage Cap.   3/8/11    N/A      N/A          UBS,CS,DB 
Putnam Mortage Opp. Co.   4/11/11   N/A      N/A          BC 
Rentech Nitrogen Partners  8/5/11   N/A      N/A          MS,CS 
Restoration Hardware       9/9/11   N/A      N/A          BA,GS 
Rose Rock Midstream, L.P. 8/12/11   N/A      N/A          BC 
Sanchez Energy Corp.       9/1/11   N/A      N/A          JOHN,MAC 
Silver Spring Ntwks Inc.   7/7/11   N/A      N/A          MS,GS,CS 
South Valley Bancorp, Inc.7/29/11   N/A      N/A          DAV 
Springleaf REIT Inc.      5/13/11   N/A      N/A          N/A 
Sprague Resources LP      7/27/11   N/A      N/A          BC,JP 
Stewart & Steveson LLC     5/3/11   N/A      N/A          JP 
Sunshine Silver Mines      7/7/11   N/A      N/A          UBS,MS,RBC 
Targeted Medical Pharma   2/14/11   N/A      N/A          SUN 
Tilly's, Inc.              7/1/11   N/A      N/A          GS,BA,PJ 
TIM W.E. SGPS, S.A.       7/28/11   N/A      N/A          CS,C 
Transunion Corp.           7/5/11   N/A      N/A          BA,JP,DB,CS,MS 
Trinseo SA                6/27/11   N/A      N/A          DB,GS,C,BC 
Trustwave Holdings, Inc.  4/21/11   6.25     $15-$17      MS,JP,BC,WB,BMO 
Vocera Communications Inc. 8/1/11   N/A      N/A          JP,PJ,BD,WB,MK 
Union Ag Grp Corp          7/5/11   14.3     $13-$15      CS,JP 
U.S. Silica Hldgs Inc.    7/18/11   N/A      N/A          MS 
WageWorks Inc.            4/26/11   5.77     $12-$14      CS,WB,SNW,JMP,NEED 
WhiteSmoke, Inc.          5/12/11   N/A      N/A          ROD,BD 
WPX Energy, Inc.          4/29/11   N/A      N/A          BC,JP 
Xunlei Limited            6/8/11    N/A      N/A          JP,DB,CO,NEED,STIF 
Yandex                    4/28/11   52.2     $20-$22      DB, MS, GS 
Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc.    7/13/11   N/A      N/A          JP,GS 
Zynga Inc.                7/1/11    N/A      N/A          MS,BC,GS,BA,JP 
 

LinkedIn Is About To Up The Ante For Marketers And Brands

Steve Olenski, The Star Group

While Facebook and Google+ continue to try and one-app each other and marketers and brands continually look for ways to leverage them for maximum effect, one social media network which boasts "only" 120 million members is poised to make some changes of its own... and marketers and advertisers would be wise to take notice.

While Facebook and Google+ continue to try and one-app each other and marketers and brands continually look for ways to leverage them for maximum effect, one social media network which boasts "only" 120 million members is poised to make some changes of its own... and marketers and advertisers would be wise to take notice. 

The changes to Facebook continue to take shape and marketers and advertisers, as well as consumers, sort through all the options now available. Google+ continues it's incredible ascent as a major player in the social media space. Twitter shows no signs of slowing down. Hell even Amazon and Microsoft are reportedly toying with the idea of joining the social media party. But this post is about LinkedIn, the "business" social network... that is how you, as a consumer, thinks about it, right? Perhaps not as a marketer or advertiser but the consumer in you sees it that way I'm guessing. 

Facebook is for personal use. Twitter is where you get information. And LinkedIn is where you network on a professional level. That sound about right? And I'm also thinking that many of you equate LinkedIn as a social network for B2B companies only. After all, 58% currently use it for marketing relationship building and lead generation. Of course one must never lose sight of the fact that even though it's called B2B, there's still a "C" on the other end. It would be wise for ALL marketers and advertisers, be they from the B2B marketing world or B2C marketing world to remember that, not just in the context of LinkedIn but the whole world as well.

However for today, we'll keep in the context of LinkedIn. 

The "Follow Company" Feature...

About a year and half ago, LinkedIn introduced a new feathers that allowed users to "Follow" companies on LinkedIn. Along the same lines of the Facebook "Like" feature, users who follow a company can receive updates about the company such as recent news, job postings, promotions, etc. The feature works fine from that regard, however it didn't provide much value for the companies themselves. Well that maybe all about to change. 

From an article in Ad Week...

"Mike Gamson, SVP of sales for LinkedIn, said now that the company has achieved brand-friendly scale (with a membership of 120 million professionals globally), it plans to make a major push with advertising. And, he added, the next step in engaging customers on LinkedIn will involve the “Follow Company” feature it launched last year."

Gamson went to say that he believes "there’s an incredibly important moment right now in the world of online advertising" and that "right now is the moment of acquisition of a [LinkedIn] follower base." He predicted that for the next 12 to 18 months brands will be investing in their followers and fans and that those who don't act now, will be left in the proverbial dust. Gamson also believes people will be very selective in which companies they choose to pledge their allegiance to on LinkedIn, “We believe there is a finite number of brands that any single LinkedIn member will follow."

Ok, what does all this mean to marketers and advertisers?

Well it's obvious that the “Follow Company” feature is about to carry a lot more weight, hence Gamson's urgent message to companies/brands to get more followers now. Why? Well as the Ad Week article puts it "Attracting followers now, while the feature is still relatively new, will cost much less than courting them down the road, when brands might have to lure them away from rival companies they’ve already decided to follow."

But What About Facebook & Twitter Advertising?

Obviously marketers and advertisers will have to make the ultimate decision as to what social network platform or platforms they choose to spend their media dollars on but if you listen to Gamson, if your target audience is well-educated, more affluent professionals, with a business-first mentality, then LinkedIn may be the way to go. “Facebook or Twitter, [that’s] a very, very broad segment of the population,” he said. But for companies trying to reach consumers about IRA rollovers, business class airline tickets, or small business credit cards, “the perfect lead for those marketers is on Linkedin.”

Of course he (Gamson) is just slightly jaded toward his own company... imagine that?

Either way, it will be very exciting to see what LinkedIn has in store for it's “Follow Company” feature when it announces the changes.

Sources: Ad Week, socialmediab2b.com, The Star Group, LinkedIn Is About To Up The Ante For Marketers And Brands

LinkedIn plans to shake up the social ads paradigm!

How LinkedIn plans to unleash the power within its network

“This is the world’s largest business network, with 120m members worldwide, including more than half a million members in Ireland,” Bernsel explained.

“Globally, we have two members joining every second. What we have discovered is LinkedIn is not just a social network for these people – it is a work tool. It’s not just about getting introduced, it’s about knowing exactly what’s happening. And of course, there’s no better way of organising your business cards – if you move job your network stays with you.

“The other thing we are finding is that for people with specific job titles, such as IT professionals, it is much more useful in terms of getting the right information.”

For LinkedIn to grow its advertising base, having this specific information could be a bonus for advertisers, says Bernsel.

“We are all social creatures and we are curious about people and our networks. Most of our users start their day at the social network and it goes from there. The key is combining the predominance of very senior people into services for advertisers,” Bernsel said.

“One thing that social media provides you with is trust. In the business world, you tend to know who you are dealing with and if a connection recommends something, because you know that person it is likely to be of good value to you.”

Bernsel said the power of the network is its targeting capability.

“Every marketer today wants to put relevant messages in front of the right person. In many cases, the targeting is implied. On most networks they think they know a visitor because of the type of article he or she reads. On LinkedIn, we would know if it is a CFO or a CTO.

“As well as this, every updated profile is rich with information and we can use that information to help advertisers reach exactly the right people, so there’s value there for the advertisers and the members because what they will be seeing on their pages will be relevant to them.

“We believe the polls, for example, are an interesting new format for advertising. Instead of an ad where you have a banner, you have a question. That question will be about something that highlights the value around the brand, such as what’s important for you when you fly, is it fast check-in, comfortable seats, food, etc.

“The viral effect of that will result in the network seeing what members have engaged with.”

I asked Bernsel about LinkedIn’s plans for mobile marketing. “In the current mobile app there is no advertising and I’m not aware of any plans around that. But there is a constant stream of business development taking place around mobile.”

While Bernsel couldn’t comment on new features arriving on the LinkedIn platform, he said the social media landscape is evolving. “We will continue to be innovative and roll out new functions. The wishlist from members is very long. But you can be optimistic; we are working on some truly great things.”

John Kennedy

LinkedIn Could Get Some Love From Obama Jobs Plan!

President Obama’s ambitious $447 billion Jobs Act is a significant opportunity for LinkedIn to capitalize on the increased hiring expected by small businesses in the U.S. 

With Obama’s town hall meeting hosted by LinkedIn itself,  the professional networking site benefits from even greater visibility after its much-hyped IPO earlier this year. The big question is however whether or not LinkedIn manages to work as efficiently for small businesses as it does for its large and well-known corporate clients as this is the real key to job growth and the underlying message Obama was promoting.

The Upside: Greater Visibility and Increased Users

With LinkedIn being chosen as the host for Obama’s town hall meeting this past Monday, the company benefited from greater visibility and an implied endorsement from the White House as a job creator and innovator given its focus on professional networking.

Additionally, despite the U.S. unemployment rate in the +9% range, ^[3] there are still around 3.2 million available jobs in the country. ^[4] This presents a big opportunity for LinkedIn to bridge this employment gap.

Given Obama’s pressing need to improve the economic sentiment in the U.S., much of which relies on employment growth, it would not be a surprise if LinkedIn gets further endorsement from large and small businesses presenting a clear upside to its user base which is already 120-million strong.

LINKEDIN'S VALUATION HIGHLIGHTS!

VALUATION HIGHLIGHTS

1. Recruitment Services & Job Postings constitute 48% of the Trefis price estimate for LinkedIn's stock.
2. LinkedIn Ads & Marketing constitutes 28% of the Trefis price estimate for LinkedIn's stock.
3. Premium Account Subscriptions constitute 14% of the Trefis price estimate for LinkedIn's stock.

by the Trefis Team

Share Count Calculation & Option Dilution

We have estimated the diluted share count to be around 108 million. This includes 94.5 million shares of Class A and Class B common stock outstanding after the IPO plus 13.1 million shares to account for option dilution. The company has about 16.2 million options at an average exercise price of $5.86. This data is available in the company's S-1 filings with the SEC. Without including the option dilution, the Trefis price estimate for LinkedIn stock would be 15% higher than the present price estimate.

POTENTIAL UPSIDE & DOWNSIDE TO TREFIS PRICE

Below we highlight key drivers of LinkedIn's value that present opportunities for upside or downside to the current Trefis price estimate for LinkedIn.

Recruitment Services and Job Listings

• Average Revenue per Corporate & Business Customer: LinkedIn charges companies for buying advanced solutions from LinekedIn, such as LinkedIn recruiter, Talent Direct, Custom Company Profiles and Jobs Network. We expect the average revenue per client company for LinkedIn to decline in the short term and increase slightly in the long term from around $22,000 in 2010 to around $23,000 by the end of Trefis forecast period. We believe that many of the incremental corporate customers for LinkedIn are likely to be small customers as many of the large companies already use LinkedIn. These customers are then likely to spend less, which means the average fee could come down instead of going up. However, as the number of registered members on LinkedIn increases, it will benefit corporates by allowing them capture large talent pool for job offerings. This means that the average fee could actually go up in the short term instead of going down. In the scenario where the average fees increases to 30,000 by the end of Trefis forecast period, there could be an upside of around 10% to Trefis price estimate for LinkedIn's stock.

Ads & Marketing

• LinkedIn Monthly Unique Visitors: LinkedIn's average monthly unique visitors has increased from around 31 million in 2009 to 51 million in 2010, and we estimate that it could continue to increase to around 215 million by the end of the Trefis forecast period. The unique visitors growth was more during the recessionary period and beyond. This is because the unemployment rate increased during recession and its after-effect were felt even after recession was over. Hence the unique visitors growth should slow down going forward, as the economy recovers leading to lower unemployment rate. However, if the growth continues, there could be an upside of around 10% to the Trefis price estimate for LinkedIn's stock if the number of unique visitors were to increase to around 300 million by the end of Trefis forecast period. 
• Page views per LinkedIn visitor: LinkedIn's page views per unique visitor has declined from around 24 per month in 2009 to 30 per month in 2010. We estimate that it could continue to increase to around 42 per month by the end of the Trefis forecast period. We believe that LinkedIn will continue to bring out features which will increase user engagement. For example, LinkedIn Polls functionality was brought so that if user answers these surveys, it will help increase page views per user.