Look for a LinkedIn IPO, but not in the near future. Company co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman has revealed his (and his investors') exit strategy, even if it could take a while to get there. Any social media company IPO would take a while to get off the ground in this market, since companies are being incredibly cautious. So, "not anytime soon" could coincide with a change in market conditions ... but Hoffman stopped well short of that.

At an event in London to celebrate LinkedIn's hitting the 3 million user mark in Britain, Hoffman said about the company's IPO prospects, "Probably at some point a balance will occur when that's the right thing. That will not occur in the near term." Worldwide, LinkedIn has 53 million members.

Continue reading Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)

Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

News Corp reportedly eyes LinkedIn originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When business customers look for a product, the first step is usually to check out the internet. Yet companies often do not know how to capitalize on this.

Well, Eloqua has a suite off on-demand offerings to help things out. And to help boost things, the company raised $23 million in a venture round. Investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, JMI Equity and Bay Partners.

"Basically, we help companies have a digital dialogue with customers," said Joe Payne, CEO of Eloqua, in a BloggingStocks interview. "We do this through white papers, microsites, tracking and so on."

Payne thinks that companies are too quick to act on potential leads. "Before handing over a possible customer to a sales person, there needs to be some qualification. If not, there can be lots of wasted time."

Eloqua sells its service on a subscription basis. What's more, its customers include biggies like Sybase (NYSE: SY), Seagate (NYSE: STX), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), MySQL, and Nuance (NASDAQ: NUAN).

And, if you want to check out other recent venture fundings, click here.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Eloqua elevates things with $23 million in funding originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

But that's not stopping Daniel Neal. He is a veteran of the tech world and has been thinking about creating a new-fangled mobile service since the mid-1990s. His idea is to create a cell service to meet the needs of kids.

Well, he has come a long way since then. Now, he is the CEO of fast-growing kajeet. The company recently snagged $36.8 million in venture capital. The investors include heavyweights like Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, Fidelity Ventures, Gabriel Venture Partners and InterWest Partners.

Basically, kajeet has a pay-as-you-go cell service for kids. "People fail to realize that kids are very smart," said Neal, in a BloggingStocks.com interview. "Kids often know more about the options on a cell phone then their parents."

Continue reading Cell phones for kids: kajeet raises $36.8 million

Cell phones for kids: kajeet raises $36.8 million originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.