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Keith Rabois, reflecting on his early years at LinkedIn, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the company's slow but strategic growth. He joined LinkedIn as the 20th employee and spent almost three years there. During that time, LinkedIn’s growth felt glacial, especially for a social platform. It took a staggering two years just to reach one million users, which in today’s fast-paced tech world feels like an eternity.
Photo: TechCrunch
No Revenue, No Problem?
Revenue wasn’t rolling in either. For the first two to three years, LinkedIn had almost none. So when they hit a million dollars in revenue, it was a major celebration for the team. The slow pace didn’t deter them because Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s founder, had a clear understanding of what was needed for success.
Focus on Viral Growth
The key to LinkedIn’s success was focusing on creating a product that could grow organically, without paid customer acquisition. Hoffman was aware that they didn’t have the budget to buy users, so viral growth was essential. The team dedicated around 80% of their resources to ensuring that LinkedIn could spread through word of mouth and natural user engagement. They used metrics like the viral coefficient—a measure of how many new users each existing user brings in—to track this.
Once LinkedIn hit the sweet spot, where the viral coefficient was greater than 1 (meaning each user brought in more than one new user), they knew they had something sustainable. Only after achieving that viral success did the team begin to focus on building other products and expanding their reach.
LinkedIn’s slow but steady climb shows the importance of patience, persistence, and a clear focus on the long-term vision. It wasn’t about instant success—it was about building a product that could grow on its own, which ultimately led to LinkedIn becoming a professional networking giant.
About Keith Rabois
Keith Rabois is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur known for his early involvement in some of Silicon Valley's most successful startups, including PayPal, LinkedIn, and Square. A member of the "PayPal Mafia," Rabois is celebrated for his bold and often contrarian approach to business. He believes in aggressive decision-making and scaling companies fast, often pushing founders to take risks others shy away from. Now a partner at Founders Fund, he’s still shaping the tech landscape with investments in high-growth startups. Rabois’ knack for identifying winning companies early has solidified his reputation as a sharp and visionary investor.
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