LinkedIn Acquires SlideShare

It has just been announced that LinkedIn is going to be acquiring SlideShare for the price of $119 million, quite a nice profit for the founders and initial investors. It is being hailed around the web as an excellent outcome for both companies.

SlideShare fits quite nicely with LinkedIn. It has been compared to a YouTube for slideshow presentations, and the company boasts over 9 million slideshows. In a similar vein, LinkedIn has been compared to a Facebook for professionals. The parallels are definitely present and the two seem to compliment each other nicely.

SlideShare allows users to upload and share slideshow presentations. Especially as more people are becoming interested in taking their LinkedIn profiles to the next level, presentations are a logical inclusion. People can use these slideshow to showcase their creative talents, speak personally with their profile viewers, and demonstrate their qualifications.

Adeptly using LinkedIn means finding ways to make yourself stand out from the crowd and connecting with those who view your profile. Presentations allow people to show a great deal of their personality (all business? Wisecraker?) and viewers will be able to feel as though they are getting to know the person.

I agree strongly that this is a positive move for both companies. LinkedIn will be able to help grow the participation with SlideShare, and SlideShare will greatly enhance the profiles of LinkedIn users. A true win-win.