Microsoft & LinkedIn – It's Official! Now What?

Yesterday, Microsoft and LinkedIn tied the knot and are now officially one company.
With the Holidays approaching, I wouldn’t expect too much to happen.  In the New Year, that’s when things will start to get active.
In the interim, let me speculate on what might be in the cards for these two.
I’ll start with the reality versus the hype.
Starting with the acquired, LinkedIn, because their world will be changing the most.
As I’ve seen too many times in my career, acquired companies start with fantasies of unlimited funding and autonomy from the acquirer.  (Interestingly, these are never documented but are always part of a handshake that took place somewhere when the lawyers weren’t around.)
They may get it for a while.
But, once targets are in danger of being missed and the all powerful quarterly earnings per share is at risk or someone in Redmond starts to get “uncomfortable” with the new folks, no one will remember that handshake.
My predictions for LinkedIn are that most current LinkedIn employees will be gone in two to three years if they haven’t already left.
I further predict that’s when we’ll see LinkedIn begin to be taken up into the mother ship.
As for the acquirer, Microsoft, I wager that the quantity and quality of Microsoft profiles will improve dramatically.  (If anyone needs any help I can be found here!)
I expect to see more Microsoft content as well as ads on LinkedIn.
At some point, we’ll Microsoft’s version of the “little green men” begin to infiltrate LinkedIn.  (Although, their attire may be more business casual.)
Look for frequent announcements from Microsoft of newly found “synergies”.
The big question hanging over Microsoft’s head will be whether LinkedIn will be its next Minecraft or another Nokia.
Tune in here in future months as I handicap the goings on!
There are a few things that won’t be happening.
LinkedIn won’t be going away any time soon if at all.
Microsoft will spend whatever it takes, and they do have the deep pockets to do this, to avoid a failure and giving an opening to the likes of either Google or Facebook.
Failure is not an option here for Microsoft.
I do hope for a few things from the acquisition of LinkedIn by Microsoft.
I hope that LinkedIn restores lost functionality.
I hope for a better User Interface on LinkedIn.
I hope for better value for the money.
And, as long as I’m taking leave of my senses, can I hope for a price decrease for LinkedIn Premium?
That’s it for now!
Also, never forget to reach out to either ask questions or to ask for help from someone like myself!
In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!
I look forward to any and all comments that you may have.  I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.
Remember!
I do this for a living and if I can be of any assistance to either you or your organization, please feel free to call on me.  Our initial discussion will be of no charge to you.