There's a lot of attention given to tech entrepreneurs and their startups who fit the 'hot' mold - young, most likely college dropout entrepreneurs, doing something 'social' and attracting huge numbers of users in a very short time. They're media darlings. So many would-be entrepreneurs believe that's what they should aim for, and if they or their companies don't fit the bill, they worry there's no future for them.
Then there's Reid Hoffman, who's taken the time to slowly but surely build a company around professional networks - LinkedIn. It is going public tomorrow and is, by any measure, a big success. Hoffman stuck with the company seeing it through the many ups and downs and made the LinkedIn profile a 'must-have' for every professional globally. There are no exciting stories behind it - there's little chance of a movie option for 'The Professional Network', and no gossipy buzz about estranged co-founders and litigious college mates - just a decade of building a company.
Techcrunch has a good writeup on why LinkedIn would be a better role model for entrepreneurs than Facebook or Zynga. The company may lack flash and sound boring, but it is good business, the kind that is likely to net the founder a cool billion, and is an inspiration to the rest of us who may score low on the GQ (glamor quotient) but are striving to build something of value.
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