For LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman, Relationships Rule the World
Founder of PayPal, Linkedin, and a substantial shareholder of Facebook and Zynga, Hoffman is the most successful angel investor in Silicon Valley
Reid HoffmanAll LinkedIn needs to do now is enlighten its users to the full power of the platform. “Ask the average person,” Hoffman says with frustration. “They think it’s a place they keep their CV online and maybe have some connections with people they know professionally. They don’t think of it as a place to get business intelligence, to research problems, to establish an online presence where other people in the network can find them. It’s as if we’re a screwdriver in a world where people don’t quite understand screws. If Americans really learned how to use LinkedIn, it would raise the country’s GDP.” It’s a massive claim, but you get the sense that the “intellectual entrepreneur”—as Elon Musk calls Hoffman—really means it. Joi Ito says, “He looks at the world and society as a huge game, an intellectual exercise where he’s trying to optimize for the common good.” Two decades after his stint at Oxford, the big thinker still lives in a world of ideas—but on the mammoth scale he craved and with a bit better compensation. (Hoffman’s net worth is estimated by Forbes to be $1.5 billion.)
As a philosopher, does Hoffman see any ethical problems with the control that social networks retain over their users’ information? LinkedIn takes what Hoffman calls a “co-owned perspective” on that question, allowing users to download their data into a CSV file: “We try to give you an authentic individual choice.” But why, then, doesn’t he use his position as a Facebook investor to encourage Zuckerberg to allow similar control?
“I’ve never really talked to him about this,” he says after a moment. “I don’t think it’s unethical if the designer of these systems is trying to improve society. And Zuck is actually on a mission—he does have a vision for a better society. The question is, why is this configuration of ownership important for that?”
“I’ll ask him,” he says. He pulls out his phone and types himself a reminder.
This article first appeared on Wired.com.
Shalom Life chats with Recycle for Change founder Ilia Shapenko
Entrepreneurial Couple Creates the Perfect Wedding Gift
Prodigy co-wrote RRS specification at just 14
With rampant gas shortage following Hurricane Sandy, FEMA and the White House turned to crowd-sourced navigation app Waze to help deliver gasoline fueling truck
Martin Greenfield's tailoring business has taken him to the White House
Agreement will make it easier for U.S. companies to sell in the Jewish state
Shalom Life chats with Recycle for Change founder Ilia Shapenko
Entrepreneurial Couple Creates the Perfect Wedding Gift
Prodigy co-wrote RRS specification at just 14
With rampant gas shortage following Hurricane Sandy, FEMA and the White House turned to crowd-sourced navigation app Waze to help deliver gasoline fueling truck
Martin Greenfield's tailoring business has taken him to the White House
Agreement will make it easier for U.S. companies to sell in the Jewish state
The 19 year old sophomore sat on the exam table looking at the floor. A college student with obvious charm
In 1971, researchers set up a prison in the basement of Stanford University's Psychology Department. The idea was to
As I have tried to make abundantly clear the United States is the only country in the industrialized world that
Alright, that does it.Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Americans have been willing to do their part for
A study appeared in a journal titled “Obesity” which was reported by a group from the University of Colorado. In
Sixty-five years ago today, World War II officially came to an end. On September 2, 1945, Japanese Foreign Minister
Share This Story With Your Friends!
Friend's Name:
Friend's E-Mail:
(This information will not be displayed publicly)
Optional Message:
