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Networking site LinkedIn going public this week

Sally Herships May 17, 2011
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Networking site LinkedIn going public this week

Sally Herships May 17, 2011
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HOST: The business themed social networking site Linked-in goes public on Thursday. But it’s not getting near the attention of its social networking rivals Facebook and Twitter — both of which are expected to file for public offerings soon.

Sally Herships reports.


Sally Herships: Hear that? Yeah, quiet.

Tom Taulli advises tech companies. He says that silence could be the sound of success.

Tom Taulli: If you don’t have the razzle dazzle, you won’t have the crazy valuation.

Taulli says frenzy can create big swings in stock prices — and regret.

Taulli: Before you make a big commitment — whether it be dating someone or getting married — you may want to think about it once or twice. But when it comes to these hot IPOs, a lot of investors don’t.

And end up losing big. Taulli says when Renren, China’s version of Facebook, went public, it dropped 50 percent in a week. He says LinkedIn isn’t likely to do that. But will LinkedIn’s IPO tell us anything about what might happen with that other social network? Tim Bajarin is president of high-tech research firm Creative Strategies.

Tim Bajarin: I’m really not sure you can look at this and see any indication of how Facebook would be. It really is apples and oranges.

LinkedIn’s non-frenzy is expected to raise almost $300 million.

I’m Sally Herships for Marketplace.

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