LinkedIn valuation $1 billion

LinkedIn, the professional networking site, said it has raised $53 million from investors that places the company's overall estimated valuation at more than $1 billion

An unemployed person came to see me yesterday and asked me for names and phone numbers. This person did not ask for email addresses, nor offered one. I was so struck by the "analog" nature of the whole job search.

I recently saw Jeff Zucker interview on Charlie Rose. Zucker said his children were "born digital." Charlie loved the phrase so much that Zucker gave Charlie permission to use the phrase.

I guess I'm somewhere between analog and digital.

Gift cards

I came across this entry while reading the Limited Brands 10K.
"During the fourth quarter of 2007, we recognized $48 million in pretax income related to the initial recognition of gift card breakage at Victoria’s Secret."
Victoria’s Secret had operating income of $718m that year, which means 6.7% came from these "breakages." Assuming that $48m is spread over 3 years, as much as 2% of each year's pretax income comes from gift card breakage.

This is from a retailer that sell gift cards with no expiration dates and also do not charge administrative fees on unused gift cards.

I found a couple of $50 VS gift cards for sale at $41 on Ebay, implying 18% value destruction as soon as you buy a gift card.

Why does anyone give gift cards?