Reid Hoffman

So I'll invite Stephen. I'll invite some people in. And then as it very slowly starts going, then all of a sudden there's enough people in. It's interesting. It's curious. And you could grow to being valuable.

So I'll invite Stephen. I'll invite some people in. And then as it very slowly starts going, then all of a sudden there's enough people in. It's interesting. It's curious. And you could grow to being valuable.

So I knew that by persistence through those initial exploratory people, people who are curious, people who want to experiment with it, people who got the vision of it, et cetera, et cetera, that all of that, I could grow to your initial critical mass. And then-

So I knew that by persistence through those initial exploratory people, people who are curious, people who want to experiment with it, people who got the vision of it, et cetera, et cetera, that all of that, I could grow to your initial critical mass. And then-

Really?

Really?

Public CV. It was a public CV with a search capability and ability to communicate with people.

Public CV. It was a public CV with a search capability and ability to communicate with people.

talk about themselves or to share their life etc and we knew that we would get to growing network effects like for example again part of the you know marines army police is your network effects may very much evolve you may start with no network effects that's fine yeah but you have a plan yes yeah yeah so am i right in thinking because around then there were social networks emerging that were very focused on people conversating with each other whereas linkedin but by design

talk about themselves or to share their life etc and we knew that we would get to growing network effects like for example again part of the you know marines army police is your network effects may very much evolve you may start with no network effects that's fine yeah but you have a plan yes yeah yeah so am i right in thinking because around then there were social networks emerging that were very focused on people conversating with each other whereas linkedin but by design

And that's a virtue, not a bug, because it was part of how we solved the critical mass problem.

And that's a virtue, not a bug, because it was part of how we solved the critical mass problem.

Yeah. Well, I'm kind of a specialist. Yeah. Right? You know, one of the first investors in Facebook, one of the first investors in Friendster.

Yeah. Well, I'm kind of a specialist. Yeah. Right? You know, one of the first investors in Facebook, one of the first investors in Friendster.

Yes. You...

Yes. You...

Network. It has less pizzazz, but we weren't really a criminal group.

Network. It has less pizzazz, but we weren't really a criminal group.

Well, it certainly was a component. And so it's a couple of things. So one, that high density talent of folks who are willing to take intensive risks, want to do contrarian things, believe in what their contrarian thing is against common sense wisdom. That's one part. Another part is when PayPal went public, it was a technology winter.

Well, it certainly was a component. And so it's a couple of things. So one, that high density talent of folks who are willing to take intensive risks, want to do contrarian things, believe in what their contrarian thing is against common sense wisdom. That's one part. Another part is when PayPal went public, it was a technology winter.