The Wild Story Of How Jeff Weiner Achieved Phenomenal Success
According to Forbes, Jeff Weiner has officially reached the remarkable milestone of transforming LinkedIn into a powerhouse social network for professionals across the globe.
But here’s what you probably don’t know: When Jeff Weiner first started back in 2008, LinkedIn had nowhere near the influence it has today.
But just a few years later, they orchestrated LinkedIn’s acquisition by Microsoft—a deal valued at $26.2 billion.
How did this happen? Through a strategic vision and a relentless focus on user value.
Here’s the story:
The Very Beginning
Jeff Weiner’s story begins in 2008, when he took the helm at LinkedIn, which at the time, was a growing but modest platform for professional networking.
He wasn’t initially seeking to turn LinkedIn into a global juggernaut. So, they spent their time focusing on user engagement and platform improvement, trying to find success doing various strategic tasks like:
- Redesigning the user interface for better experience
- Expanding LinkedIn’s feature set to include more engaging tools
- Building partnerships with major educational and business institutions
Until one day, everything changed.
The Moment Of Change
The pivot came when Jeff Weiner and his team saw the rising trend in data-driven recruitment.
It was 2012 and LinkedIn became the go-to platform for recruiters and job seekers worldwide.
They saw this as an opportunity—and took it.
Their gameplan:
- Integrating comprehensive user profiles for better job matching
- Leveraging analytics to provide insights for companies
- Expanding LinkedIn Learning to add value for skill development
As you can probably guess: it worked.
The Pinnacle Of Success
By 2016, Jeff Weiner had led LinkedIn to a wild level of success—way beyond what they probably ever thought possible.
- Achieving over 400 million members worldwide
- Facilitating LinkedIn’s acquisition by Microsoft for $26.2 billion
- Transforming the way businesses recruit and professionals network
And the rest is history.
I love this story because it is the perfect encapsulation of what it takes to achieve phenomenal success, but also shows how in order to be “lucky,” you need to put yourself in a position to receive luck.
Great reminder for anyone with big dreams.