Are you on LinkedIn?

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Related Articles

Indian CIOs more progressive than global peers: IB...Nokia unveils N97 miniIBM partners with NGOs for its CSC programHP acquires IBRIX

: Lindedin's tagline “relationships matter,” sums up a fundamental primordial need of human beings to connect with other people. And, in this increasingly interconnected and always-on virtual world that needs to connect and create relationship for business and professional reasons, it is just a couple of clicks away. While there are other social and professional networking sites, it appears that LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is increasingly relevant for professional networking among Indians and the global Indian community. I think this is especially true in India where which source or what connections you have goes a long way in the business and professional world. However in the virtual world you can bypass the gatekeeper of that connection or source by tapping into the LinkedIn network and figuring how you can reach them.

Often described as a combination of personal and professional rolodex, LinkedIn is at its basic level a free service where you can create your professional profile and search and reconnect with people that you might have lost touch with. LinkedIn lets you leverage your networks and contacts to achieve your business goals. For instance, Karthik Balakrishnan, vice-president of Jina Ventures, a private equity firm located in New York says, “LinkedIn has been helpful in sourcing deals by reaching out via LinkedIn to new India private equity funds and advisory firms.” Karthik finds LinkedIn useful to connect with people from his industry since many of them are members of this business networking site. “LinkedIn has brought the world to my doorstep,” points out Sachadev Ramakrishna, VP, strategic marketing, in a leading global technology company. He adds, “LinkedIn proves Metcalfe’s Law right, which demonstrates the power of networks. Every node added to the network leads to an exponential degree of usefulness and connections.” Robert Metcalfe, the man behind the law, is often described as the ‘father of the ethernet’ and was the founder of 3Com, one of the early networking companies founded in Silicon Valley.