LinkedIn 2013 Annual Report Download - page 51

In 2013, we achieved significant growth from 2012 as our network of registered members and member
engagement continues to increase and we continue to benefit from expanded product offerings and
international expansion. Our net revenue was $1,528.5 million in 2013, which represented an increase of
57% from 2012. Our future growth will depend, in part, on our ability to continue to increase our
member base and member engagement on both desktop and mobile devices, as well as continuing to
expand our product offerings and international expansion, which we believe will result in increased sales
of our Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions and Premium Subscriptions to new and existing customers.
As our net revenue increases, we expect our growth rate related to net revenue will decrease over time.
Also, we believe the rate at which we are able to increase our member base and member engagement, as
measured by our key metrics, will decelerate over time because of the large scale of our network, and that
this may impact portions of our business.
In September 2013, we closed a follow-on offering, at which time we sold a total of 6,188,340 shares
of our Class A common stock. We received total cash proceeds of $1,348.1 million, net of underwriting
discounts and commissions and other costs associated with this offering. We intend to use these proceeds
for general corporate purposes and to support the growth of our business.
In 2014, our philosophy is to continue to invest for long-term growth and we expect to continue to
invest heavily in the following:
•Talent. We expect to increase our workforce, which will result in an increase in headcount-related
expenses, including stock-based compensation expense. As of December 31, 2013, we had
5,045 employees, which represented an increase of 46% compared to the same period last year.
•Technology. We expect to continue to make significant capital expenditures to upgrade our
technology and network infrastructure to improve the ability of our website to handle expected
increases in usage, to enable the release of new features and solutions, and to scale for future
growth.
•Product. We expect to continue to invest heavily in our product development efforts to enable our
members and customers to derive more value from our platform.
•Monetization. We expect to continue to aggressively expand our field sales organization to market
our solutions both in the United States and internationally.
As a result of our investment philosophy, we may not be profitable on a U.S. generally accepted
accounting principles (‘‘GAAP’’) basis in 2014.
Key Metrics
We regularly review a number of metrics, including the following key metrics, to evaluate our
business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate financial projections
and make strategic decisions.
•Number of Registered Members. We define the number of registered members in our network as the
number of individual users who have created a member profile on our website as of the date of
measurement. We believe the number of registered members is a key indicator of the growth of
our network and our ability to receive the benefits of the network effects resulting from such
growth. Growth in our member base depends, in part, on our ability to successfully develop and
market our solutions to professionals who have not yet become members of our network. Member
growth will also be contingent on our ability to translate our offerings into additional languages,
create more localized products in certain key markets, and more broadly expand our member base
internationally.
We believe that a higher number of registered members will result in increased sales of our Talent
Solutions, Marketing Solutions and Premium Subscriptions, as customers will have access to a
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