LinkedIn S-1: Here It Is

LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman

Business-flavored social networking site LinkedIn, as expected, filed its S-1 IPO registration documents today with the Securities and & Exchange Commission. Take a look and let us know what you think. We posted a shareable version on our Scribd page: LinkedIn S-1

Growth has been impressive, with revenue doubling in the first nine months of 2010 to $161 million from $80.7 million in the same period in 2009. The company is profitable, but not as profitable as one might think an Internet firm could be. Operating margin for the first nine months of 2010 was only 7.7%. LinkedIn is sacrificing profits now to keep growing as fast as it can. Its ongoing investment in sales and marketing and software development have doubled or more along with revenue. Registered users jumped from 55 million to 90 million in 2010 and unique monthly visitors grew from 36 million to 65 million.

LinkedIn is proving one can make money charging for access to a social network, a testament to the career-building and sales-prospecting power of its service. The growth has come off the back of individuals and not corporate recruiters, who were once its desired target. Its revenue mix has shifted dramatically in the past three years. Job listing fees were half of revenue in 2007 and are now down to 27%. Premium subscription fees, meanwhile, have risen from 23% to 41% of the top line.

The recession hasn’t hurt LinkedIn at all. Its chief executive Jeff Weiner has told me he’s convinced LinkedIn is countercyclical and listings fees go up during times of mass layoffs as people scramble to buff up their profiles and reach out to old colleagues.

The deal hasn’t been priced yet. Merrill, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan control the book. They are right now very much liking the pop gotten by Web publisher Demand Media, home of the suspiciously product-specific articles. Its IPO shares were up 33% by the close of their first day of trading. The table below shows LinkedIn’s significant shareholders, the biggest being cofounder Reid Hoffman, Sequoia Capital’s Mike Moritz and Greylock Partners’ David Sze. The company raised roughly $100 million overall from its investors. You will be  seeing at least two of those VCs’ names on the 2011 Midas List of tech’s top investors, due out in April.