We’re a professional network, we don’t see ourselves going the media way: LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner

Jeff Weiner, the chief executive of the world’s largest professional network LinkedIn, visited Bengaluru this week for the first time after the $26.2-billion acquisition by Microsoft. While Weiner has visited India few times before, this was his first visit to India’s tech capital. And he has an ambitious plan for the company’s second largest market — launching three products that were “made in India, for India” but still appeal to a global audience. These include a stripped down version for weak Internet connections called LinkedIn Lite, a student placement product LinkedIn placements and a hiring, marketing and learning solution designed for small businesses called LinkedIn Starter Pack.

In an exclusive interview with ET , Weiner also spoke about LinkedIn’s India strategy, potential integration with Microsoft and plans to ramp up their content strategy to attract startups and small businesses. Edited excerpts:

Also read: ​ Betting big on India, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner launches three products

The three products you unveiled today are for “Made in India and made for India”. Is this the first time you are localising for any market?
We’ve done this in China before. The first was an extension of our global platform — which was done by our team in China, for the Chinese markets. So far, these are the only two markets, outside the US, where we do global development for that particular country.

What is your rationale for creating a product like LinkedIn Lite?
We want to make sure everyone in India has access to LinkedIn. We understand that folks are running out of storage — in terms of mobile packages. There are also folks accessing the site through slower connections — so the more streamlined, the easier it is for people to access it and the more they are going to use it.

The Indian government has several programs that are pushing the digitalinclusion. You’ve been to India before. Have you seen things change?
If you look at it, the announcements today are all aligned with the government initiatives. Placements is aligned with Skill India, the startup package is well aligned with Startup India. We follow the Indian market very closely. We have been following what PM Narendra Modi has been doing — and his agenda — very closely. It’s amazing to see the investment in entrepreneurship taking place across the country. It’s readily apparent that the startup ecosystem is flourishing. You have companies like Ola and Flipkart reaching significant scale.

You’ve launched ProFinder in the US which lets freelancers find jobs? Do you think the Indian market is ready?
I think we have to make sure that we establish the playbook in the US, learn what works and what doesn’t. We are examining the right kind of balance between supply (the independent service providers who are offering their services) and demand (the members on LinkedIn looking for those services)…It’s still very early and as soon as we feel that we have the right kind of playbook, we will expand aggressively.

You are experimenting with video and an India-specific news feed. Are you now looking at the media space?
We don’t see ourselves going the media way. We are a professional network. The feed is increasingly an epicentre of activity on LinkedIn, where you can stay connected and informed. So, we have dramatically increased the amount of content in the feed, we are starting to see more publisher activity, we are starting to see more sharing from our members, on the content they are liking and sharing. All of that is healthy...but I wouldn’t characterise us as pivoting to a media company.

You have an India R&D centre. Is there any unique value of the work this unit is doing and something that you think will have value for rest of LinkedIn?
Two, if not all three announcements, that we made today can be extended globally. Placements certainly, in terms of understanding the hiring ecosystem on college campuses. There’s a lot of learning that we are going to do here that we think can be extended elsewhere beyond India. That certainly holds true for LinkedIn Lite that we are rolling out in India for the first time. That’s going to make sense in other markets where you see very similar restrictions.

Do you see content as a way to acquire and engage existing members or do you see it making revenues as a separate business?
It’s neither of those. The first way we think about content on LinkedIn is to fulfil a core value proposition — how we create value for members. One of the ways in which we help our members stay connected and stay informed is through the content that’s showing up on their feed. The kind of business intelligence and insights that are flowing through the feed, we think can be a difference maker in the career path of our members, whether that’s folks looking for a job, already in a job and looking for a dream job or in a job they already love and just seeking to become better at it. If they end up spending more time on LinkedIn and if we can generate more advertising revenues as a result of that, that’s good. But at the end of the day, it’s about delivering that core value proposition.

You have PM Modi among your list influencers. Is there any attempt to bring in these types of influencers on board?
We have made a concerted attempt to get more influencers on the network PM Modi’s dedicated push for entrepreneurship has earned him one of the fastest growing following on LinkedIn. In the US, we have the United States president and the president of World Bank among others. We will continue on that front.

While the acquisition by Microsoft is yet to close, has there been any thought on how you are integrating with Microsoft’s products?
There are lot of different opportunities for integration. You can imagine receiving an email via Outlook and understanding who that person is, what they are up to and connect with that person at a click of a button. There’s also going to be a lot of opportunities for LinkedIn to be integrated throughout Microsoft Office and Windows.