Why Linkedin India makes sense

By Aditya Mhatre at 22 December, 2009, 2:49 am

Its been a week since LinkedIn announced opening an office in Mumbai. While several blogs and sites carried the news about the announcement itself, I am yet to come across an opinion piece on it. So rather than waiting for one, I’m going to give it a shot myself. Lets see if I make any sense to you.

One of the trends that I have noticed in 2009 has been web companies starting “India Edition” of the parent site but none have made as much as LinkedIn setting up its shop India. While, LinkedIn has announced a content syndication deal with Network18, I think there is a lot more planned by LinkedIn for India. Why else would it set up an complete office in Mumbai? After all, content syndication deals could have done sitting in cities like Shanghai or Singapore that have far better infrastructure than Mumbai. I see only two reasons that a web company would set up an office in a country. One, opportunity to grow user base. Two, opportunity to increase revenues. India offers both to LinkedIn.

LinkedIn says they have 3.4 million users in India, far more than I had expected. Infact the number is higher than the users they have in UK. Go figure! The Digital Media Outlook 2009 report by WebChutney and Juxt Consulting says that there are 47 millions internet users in India, of which 36% (16.9 million) work in corporate companies. See the potential to grow userbase?

Now, the revenue perspective. In India, one of the largest e-commerce segment is Job portals. With millions being added to the workforce in India, these sites will continue to thrive into the foreseeable future. I see LinkedIn doing very well for itself if it decides to enter this market. While Naukri is for entry level jobs, LinkedIn could position itself as a platform for senior management recruitment. Believe me, its got a fantastic brand recognition in the carpeted offices.

Apart from the above reasons, the rate of growth achievable in India is ridiculous too. Don’t forget that there have been talks about a LinkedIn IPO for a long time and a few million users and millions in revenue in a short time won’t do LinkedIn any harm.

I wish LinkeIn India Team all the best.

Have been often my blog, Why don't you subscribe to our RSS feed.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Hope to see you again

Comments

Siddharth December 29, 2009

I think LinkedIn makes sense because Xing was too slow to get their act together and make a bolder splash into the Indian market. IMHO Xing has a better UI, functionality, ecosystem and business model. Unfortunately they have a bit of a problem to get outside the German-speaking market.