Reid: Yes. And basically the idea is- as a person if you can do a small good for someone else, which can be massively good for them especially when it is in your community, your network, etc. You are creating a lot more value into the system.
Kamla: So now, let me tie in everything that you have said. You have defined social network, you have defined what LinkedIn does in terms of value, you have defined what is the small good. Now, let us go back to India and look how relationships matter in India.
Reid: Sure!
Kamla: And if the computer is not the active primary device for them, how then is LinkedIn planning on growing in India? You have got one million users out of a population of over a billion.
Reid: The network is the representation of real people with an identity, with an electronically addressable communications device. Now the primary use of LinkedIn thus far has been a PC and e-mail address. But obviously natural extensions are to a phone number because that is also an identifier to a person. And as long as we can get the information interface rich enough then you have profiles, your searches and post questions and get answers and help other people get answers. As those interfaces are available, those are the things that we will be extending into the mobile.
Kamla: So as Head of Product Development at LinkedIn, I am going to come back to that question again. How are you going to going to stay relevant to generation Y and generation Z?
Reid: Actually I don’t know if generation Z is that a common term yet?
Kamla: Maybe I just invented it.
Reid: So the hope is that we stay relevant because the thing that actually makes a professional effective and makes their careers for all ages, be it a 21 year old, 18-year old and a 40-year old or 60-year old, is the network of people around them, that they’ve established the trust relationship with. That is where you get best opportunities, that is where you get your best leads, that is actually your help in solving problems. LinkedIn is about being able to make it easier and natural to collaborate with those people.
And that is as relevant to a 21-year old today as it is to a 21-year old, you know- than a new 21-year old five years from now when this 21-year old is 26 and the new one is 21. We have to adapt ourselves to new interfaces. So, for example with the mobile coming we have to make sure that we are providing the value propositions that allow you to collaborate and coordinate with your network in order to be effective in your career and tasks. But I guess I would say the following bold statement: that as long as there is work, we should be relevant.
Kamla: Again, staying with India, they tend to be very geeky, tech-oriented-the young people. What about introducing APIs and having people develop applications for you in India for LinkedIn?