Welcome to another edition of Starred, where we take you deep inside the inboxes of our favorite CEOs, entrepreneurs, and VCs. Think that first message Jack Dorsey ever sent to Biz Stone describing his crazy idea for a 140-character blogging platform--the emails you've had starred in your inbox for years, saved almost solely for nostalgia. Joining us today, Allen Blue, vice president of product management and cofounder of LinkedIn:
On May 5, 2003, we were ready to launch LinkedIn with the vision of building the world’s first and largest professional network. Jean-Luc Vaillant, vice president of engineering at the time, created the first account and sent an invitation out to each of the 11 founding team members. This invitation started it all.
Initially, it was an exclusive club. We only invited each other--getting the whole founding team connected at the core of the LinkedIn network. We became "Generation 0" of the network, and once part of this group, we were allowed to invite people outside the company.
From that first invitation, our network has grown to more than 120 million professionals worldwide, adding two members a second across 200 countries. This simple invitation has had far reaching implications to the evolution of today's global workforce and digital professionals as we know it.
Join us next Monday for another edition of Starred, or check out past editions:Starred: When Reddit Cofounder Alexis Ohanian First Pitched His Brotastic Startup
[Image: Flickr user DavidConnell]