Linkedin Corp

In a major leadership shake-up at one of Silicon Valley's hottest companies, LinkedIn Corp. founder Reid Hoffman is retaking the helm and bringing in former Yahoo Inc. executive Jeff Weiner as interim president. Hoffman will replace Chief Executive Dan Nye, a veteran software executive recruited nearly two years ago who has helped propel dramatic growth at one of the standouts among social networks.

NEW YORK — First it popped, then it flopped. Facebook Inc.'s much-hyped debut on Wall Street was an event watched around the world. The social network's initial public offering valued it at $104 billion — more than market stalwarts such as McDonald's Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. The opening Friday seemed as if Facebook was destined for a big market surge, and the stock vaulted for a split second to $45. Then the surge evaporated and shares fell back to their IPO price of $38. Just 15 minutes after the stock opened for trading, the problems really began.

. -- Few Internet entrepreneurs practice what they preach as devoutly as LinkedIn Corp. co-founder Reid Hoffman, whose business revolves around his belief that good fortune flows from good relationships. Hoffman, 40, has put that principle to work by mining his own vast network of Silicon Valley connections to rake in one Internet jackpot after another. A college friendship led Hoffman to PayPal and his first windfall when EBay Inc. bought the online payment service for $1.5 billion in 2002.

The euphoria surrounding a red-hot initial public offering often doesn't last long. Investors in Yelp Inc. may be discovering that. Shares of the Internet-review site declined nearly 15% on Monday, an about-face from their sizzling 64% surge on the company's first day of trading Friday. Yelp slid $3.59 to $20.99. It's common for IPO shares to cool down in the aftermath of a blistering IPO, and is not necessarily a bad sign for the long-term prospects of a company or a stock.

The euphoria surrounding a red-hot initial public offering often doesn't last long. Investors in Yelp Inc. may be discovering that. Shares of the Internet-review site declined nearly 15% on Monday, an about-face from their sizzling 64% surge on the company's first day of trading Friday. Yelp slid $3.59 to $20.99. It's common for IPO shares to cool down in the aftermath of a blistering IPO, and is not necessarily a bad sign for the long-term prospects of a company or a stock.

LinkedIn Corp., the largest professional-networking website, unexpectedly reported a second-quarter profit as it lured new members following a May initial public offering. Profit excluding certain costs was $10.8 million, or 10 cents a share, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company said Thursday. Sales soared to $121 million. Analysts on average had predicted a loss of 1 cent a share on $106.4 million in revenue, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. LinkedIn, the first U.S. social network to sell shares to the public, has been hiring sales staff and working to add features in an effort to attract more professionals to its site internationally.

Dan Nye landed a job as chief executive of a hot Silicon Valley company without even dusting off his resume. Nye was an executive vice president at Advent Software Inc. when Reid Hoffman, chairman of social-networking company LinkedIn Corp., came calling. Hoffman hadn't found him through a headhunter or a classifieds site but through LinkedIn's vast who-knows-whom online network. Through the whole process, Nye said, "I was never asked to produce a resume, and I was never asked for a reference."

LinkedIn Corp. unveiled a social news service Thursday in an effort to broaden its appeal to the more than 90 million people who use the professional network as it prepares to become the first in what is likely to be a string of high-profile social networks going public in coming months. LinkedIn Today is the latest feature the Mountain View, Calif., company has rolled out to make its website a more popular destination. The service will let users tap into articles that are being shared by their connections or by people in their industries.

Since Dan Nye joined LinkedIn Corp. as chief executive less than a year ago, he has presided over dramatic growth even by Silicon Valley standards. Membership in the career contacts site has climbed to 17 million from 8 million, and the payroll to 200 from 60. Nye, a former executive at Procter & Gamble Co. and Intuit Inc., has made high-profile hires, including tapping Lloyd Taylor, formerly Google Inc.'s director of global operations, as LinkedIn's vice president of technical operations.

NEW YORK — First it popped, then it flopped. Facebook Inc.'s much-hyped debut on Wall Street was an event watched around the world. The social network's initial public offering valued it at $104 billion — more than market stalwarts such as McDonald's Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. The opening Friday seemed as if Facebook was destined for a big market surge, and the stock vaulted for a split second to $45. Then the surge evaporated and shares fell back to their IPO price of $38. Just 15 minutes after the stock opened for trading, the problems really began.

LinkedIn Corp., the largest professional-networking website, unexpectedly reported a second-quarter profit as it lured new members following a May initial public offering. Profit excluding certain costs was $10.8 million, or 10 cents a share, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company said Thursday. Sales soared to $121 million. Analysts on average had predicted a loss of 1 cent a share on $106.4 million in revenue, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. LinkedIn, the first U.S. social network to sell shares to the public, has been hiring sales staff and working to add features in an effort to attract more professionals to its site internationally.

LinkedIn Corp. unveiled a social news service Thursday in an effort to broaden its appeal to the more than 90 million people who use the professional network as it prepares to become the first in what is likely to be a string of high-profile social networks going public in coming months. LinkedIn Today is the latest feature the Mountain View, Calif., company has rolled out to make its website a more popular destination. The service will let users tap into articles that are being shared by their connections or by people in their industries.

In a major leadership shake-up at one of Silicon Valley's hottest companies, LinkedIn Corp. founder Reid Hoffman is retaking the helm and bringing in former Yahoo Inc. executive Jeff Weiner as interim president. Hoffman will replace Chief Executive Dan Nye, a veteran software executive recruited nearly two years ago who has helped propel dramatic growth at one of the standouts among social networks.

. -- Few Internet entrepreneurs practice what they preach as devoutly as LinkedIn Corp. co-founder Reid Hoffman, whose business revolves around his belief that good fortune flows from good relationships. Hoffman, 40, has put that principle to work by mining his own vast network of Silicon Valley connections to rake in one Internet jackpot after another. A college friendship led Hoffman to PayPal and his first windfall when EBay Inc. bought the online payment service for $1.5 billion in 2002.

Since Dan Nye joined LinkedIn Corp. as chief executive less than a year ago, he has presided over dramatic growth even by Silicon Valley standards. Membership in the career contacts site has climbed to 17 million from 8 million, and the payroll to 200 from 60. Nye, a former executive at Procter & Gamble Co. and Intuit Inc., has made high-profile hires, including tapping Lloyd Taylor, formerly Google Inc.'s director of global operations, as LinkedIn's vice president of technical operations.

Dan Nye landed a job as chief executive of a hot Silicon Valley company without even dusting off his resume. Nye was an executive vice president at Advent Software Inc. when Reid Hoffman, chairman of social-networking company LinkedIn Corp., came calling. Hoffman hadn't found him through a headhunter or a classifieds site but through LinkedIn's vast who-knows-whom online network. Through the whole process, Nye said, "I was never asked to produce a resume, and I was never asked for a reference."

Has a mastery of social networking become a prerequisite for a successful working life? If "friending" and tweeting are now essential skills for the professional classes, where does that leave the chronically network-challenged? And how do you get into the networks where the power players hang out? Questions such as these spring inevitably — and uncomfortably — to mind as you read "The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself and Transform Your Career," a new book cowritten by Reid Hoffman, founder and chairman of Mountain View, Calif.-based LinkedIn Corp.

Google Inc.'s Dipchand Nishar, a product management director who helped oversee the company's mobile advertising efforts, is leaving for LinkedIn Corp. Nishar will join his new company as vice president of products starting Jan. 5, Mountain View, Calif.-based LinkedIn said. His most recent position at Google was senior director of products for the Asia-Pacific region. LinkedIn runs a social-networking site for businesspeople. LinkedIn is bolstering management after raising $75.7 million in venture funding since June.