Kevin Eyres' CV reveals a passion for taking start-ups to the next level. Following a three-year stint as general manager, international, at search engine AltaVista prior to its takeover by Overture, he moved to SideStep to handle the travel search engine's strategy and growth.
Kansas-born, Texas-raised Eyres is now poised to launch a European assault for professional online networking business LinkedIn, and he exudes confidence.
Eyres believes the site's functionality will secure LinkedIn's longevity. "We're not a social networking site," he insists. "We're very purpose-driven. Professionals come here for a reason." LinkedIn's mandate - to make professionals more productive - is met through opportunities to connect with other professionals, upload CVs, ask questions of the community and forge new working partnerships.
So, whereas sites such as Facebook are for entertainment-based socialising, LinkedIn's focus is squarely on professional networking. Eyres says: "From a business standpoint, you don't want to mix your professional and private lives. How many business colleagues do you invite to your housewarming?"
Growing revenue
Eyres has ample reason to be on good form. LinkedIn, which he joined last December, has netted a market valuation of $1bn following its latest round of investment, revenue is increasing year on year and, to cap it all, Eyres recently tied the knot with his partner, German-born Sigrid.
Bain Capital Venture's $53m injection is testament to LinkedIn's durability, says Eyres, as is further finance from initial investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital and Greylock.
"It's not unusual to have a venture capitalist follow from one round to the next," he says. "But to stay in from the start to a $1bn valuation? That's pretty unprecedented."
With such solid backing - blue-chip investors behind successes such as Google, Yahoo, eBay and Cisco - Eyres is convinced of a rosy future for the Silicon Valley start-up. He says: "Our plan is to be one of the next great internet companies."
LinkedIn has hovered under the radar for some time since launching four years ago, as generalist social networks such as MySpace and Facebook dominated the landscape.
While the site cannot match the reach of these two internet stalwarts, which recorded global user bases of 115.7 million and 116.4 million respectively in June (source: comScore), LinkedIn's figures depict a business in rude health.
Membership is surging - internal figures for April show 108% year-on-year growth to 23 million, while Nielsen Online quotes year-on-year global growth of 348% for the same period, taking account of engagement as well as member growth.
"To put it another way, one new member joins every two seconds," Eyres says. Europe (with six million members), Asia and Africa are expanding fast, but the US remains the strongest market, claiming 50% of global members and expanding at just over 100% annually.
LinkedIn's concept grew from founder Reid Hoffman's tenure in Silicon Valley. There, entrepreneurs rub shoulders with angel investors and venture capitalists - business success is very much about who you know. Hoffman, former executive vice-president at PayPal, knew the web was the vehicle to take the concept worldwide and brought in Dan Nye from Advent as chief executive last year.
The business' selling point, says Eyres, is user quality. He points out that 75% of members have a university degree, with representation from executives from FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies. Amstrad founder Sir Alan Sugar recently signed up, joining, among others, Bill Gates. When Gates posted the question: "How can we get youth involved with technology?" he received the site's record number of responses.
Advertisers have grappled with how to extract returns from sites such as Bebo and Facebook. Formats such as branded applications have drawn interest from brands including Sprite and Dixons, but profitability remains uncertain.
Business model
Having watched and learned, LinkedIn has developed a four-pronged business model - advertising, job postings, subscriptions and corporate sales. Each arm brings in roughly equal revenue and Eyres claims the model means the offer is less cluttered than sites supported solely by advertising, typically with only one display ad per page.
"Advertising is growing fast - because it works. It's down to the targeting capability of our platform," Eyres explains. "LinkedIn is a group of self-selecting professionals and we know exactly what they do. Our members reveal their entire professional selves, making their credentials, recommendations and reputations public."
For example, Starbucks used the site to target decision-making HR professionals with in-store gift-card messages to consider for employee rewards. Other major advertisers include BlackBerry and Microsoft.
Eyres has a smooth veneer - Southern charm polished with business flair. Does anything keep him awake at night? "I'm not a worrier. I focus on what needs doing, make a list and work through it," he says. Topping his current to-do list is a European growth mission - his strategy is clear and any initial public offering is some way off.
"We're already doing business in most European countries," he says. "It's now a case of getting our infrastructure and operations scaled and continuing to add new revenue models, services and partnerships. In terms of setting up physically across Europe - watch this space."
CV
2008: Managing director, Europe, LinkedIn
2007: Chairman, Spoonfed Media
2006: Managing director, Europe, SideStep
2004: Chief executive, DDAT
2000: General manager, international, AltaVista International
1999: Director of engineering, Shopping.com
1990: Engineer manager, Compaq Computer
Family: Married to Sigrid
Mobile phone: BlackBerry
Desert island media: Laptop with WiFi
Dream dinner party guests: Nelson Mandela and Bill Gates.