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How LinkedIn built a Community of Half a Billion
LinkedIn's growth from 500,000 to 500 million users over 13 years was driven by a multi-faceted approach including product-market fit, international expansion, and significant investment in mobile and partnerships. The company emphasized quality signups, data-driven decision-making, and the importance of a strong product foundation before focusing on growth tactics. Future opportunities are seen in product integrations with Microsoft and further international market expansion.
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How LinkedIn built a Community of Half a Billion
- 1. How LinkedIn builta Community of Half a Billion Aatif Awan Vice President, Growth & International Products at LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/aatifawan aatif_awan
- 2. 201720162015201420132012201120102009200820072006200520042003 What was itlike before LinkedIn?
- 3. 1000x LinkedIn Grew from500K to 500 Million in 13 years
- 4. About me • VPGrowth, International & Data products at LinkedIn • Have led LinkedIn growth for 6+ years, helping grow LinkedIn by 400M+ members • Leading LinkedIn-Microsoft product integrations www.linkedin.com/in/aatifawan aatif_awan
- 5. Story of Growth@ LinkedIn
- 6. Growth @ LinkedIn:2003-2007 0.1M 2M 4M 8M 17M 2003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015 LinkedIn Member Growth Product market fit. Growth built into product from the start. Reid Hoffman and team invited well- connected people in the industry. Public profiles launch in 2006, became a second major growth channel due to SEO.
- 7. Growth @ LinkedIn:2008-2011 0.1M 2M 4M 8M 17M 33M 55M 89M 145M 2003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015 LinkedIn Member Growth Dedicated cross-functional growth team (~15 people) focused on acquisition. Identified drivers for key channels and optimized. International expansion. Saw 100%+ lifts in growth for most markets where we translated into local language.
- 8. Growth @ LinkedIn:2012- 2016 0.1M 2M 4M 8M 17M 33M 55M 89M 145M 202M 277M 347M 414M 484 M LinkedIn Member Growth Expanded to cover acquisition, activation, connections, retention and resurrection, notifications. Focus on quality: signups -> quality signups -> engaged quality members Invested heavily in mobile and partnerships and continued international expansion Continue international expansion with focus on China and India.
- 9. Growth @ LinkedIn:What’s Next? Product integrations with Microsoft are the biggest growth opportunity
- 10. Growth Team OrganizationToday Discovery (SEO) & Onboarding Network Growth Notifications & Communications Core Growth China India New Markets (Germay, Japan, Healthcare) International & Segment Growth Experimentation Reporting Standardization Data Products
- 11.
- 12. Ignore the hypeabout Growth Hacks and Tactics
- 13. Focus on principles,not tactics • Principles >> Strategy >> Tactics • Tactics have a short shelf life. • If all you know are tactics, you will likely apply them incorrectly. • Once you understand the principles, you can find the right tactics and even come up with your own.
- 14. What we’ve learnedalong the way
- 15. Growth is aboutaccelerating the realization of your vision, not moving metrics up-and-to-the-right. • At LinkedIn, our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. • Growth team accelerates this through creation of the economic graph that connects people, companies, jobs and schools. • Taking this view led us to focus on quality signups, not just signups
- 16. Pick one NorthStar metric, measure everything • Define one north star metric that: • Is aligned with the success of your business • Measures value for users • Is summable • Sometimes, one is not possible. Go for as few as you can. • Measure everything and tie it back to the north star metric.
- 17. Good product comesfirst, growth second • Investing in growth before you have a good product is a waste of resources. • Measure product goodness with long-term retention (curve should flatten over time) and through customer feedback • If your retention isn’t good, nothing else matters. Improve it by delivering core product value early and often. Good retention Bad retention %age of users engaging by weeks since signup
- 18. But we neededto do more… • For products with network effects or marketplace dynamics (LinkedIn has both), you need to achieve a good product and growth simultaneously. • Products get better with more users and can be useless without a critical mass. • We solved for this by building two powerful growth engines from the start.
- 19. Investing in multiplescalable growth channels multiplies your odds of success • Being dependent on a single growth channel is a strategic liability. • Have at least one core channel, invest in strategic channels like new platforms and have some venture bets. • We developed two core channels: Viral growth through members building their networks by importing contacts and SEO of people profiles.
- 20. User Behavior Identifying GrowthChannels • Do existing users share your product via word of mouth? • Are people using search to find a solution? • Do users have a high LTV? Channels to explore Virality, referrals SEO, SEM Paid acquisition • Does having more users improve the experience? Virality • Are your target users already on another platform? Partnership, Integration
- 21. Channel Break down eachChannel into Drivers Virality Drivers %age importing contacts, # of contacts imported, %age inviting, # of invites sent, CTR on invites, Sign up conversion Quality signup rate Measure everything and tie it back to the north star metric.
- 22. Prioritize channels and drivers Brainstorm hypotheses and ideas Assess impacton north star metric Prioritize based on impact, probability of success and effort Build, A/B test and measure Growth Requires Continuous Prioritization and Feedback
- 23. A/B Testing =>Always Be Testing • The more you experiment, the faster you learn and innovate. • It can resolve long-disputed strategy questions and break down long-held myths. • You can A/B test most things • We’ve done statistically significant tests to measure impact on customer complaints on an issue with a volume of a few hundred/week • SEO A/B testing can be very effective • As your user demographics change over time, repeating old tests can lead to new insights.
- 24. Hiring the rightpeople • Analytical • Gets shit done • Curious – asks why? • Finds new ways to do things – asks why not? • Prior growth experience is optional
- 25. Culture • Data trumpsopinions • Set ambitious goals • Move fast • Learn continuously • Celebrate wins
- 26. “Don't be satisfiedwith stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth” Final thought I’d leave you with… Rumi
- 27. Thank you! Aatif Awan VicePresident, Growth & International Products at LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/aatifawan aatif_awan