Who would have believed in 2002 when Reid Hoffman was mooting the idea of a professional social network – a kind of Facebook for suits – that it would prove to be an amazing success and grow to in excess of 400 million users?
On my travels I talk with many startups and occasionally come across a few that are so protective of what they are doing, they are unwilling to even tell you about it – other than how great it will be and how it will change the world! This is often touted as ‘stealth mode’, keep the product under wraps until you are good to go and launch with a bang. Unfortunately this approach is often damaging, to the point where it could be fatal.
It seems the Iron Curtain may be re-emerging this week as Russian hackers first disclose 6.5m passwords from Linkedin, followed by 1.5m passwords from eHarmony, and then Last.fm with an undisclosed volume. Needless to say, there will be yet more sites added to this sorry list in the coming weeks.
Linkedin is a great networking tool, and many are utilising its power to manage communications with their contacts. I make extensive use of Linkedin and was dismayed last year to have managed to have my account suspended – and I’m a paying customer!