5 Things Microsoft Can Learn From LinkedIn (and vice versa)

I was surprised and excited, along with the world, to see the news today about Microsoft acquiring LinkedIn. I've had the privilege of being a part of the management teams of both companies. Optify, where I was CEO, was a vendor to Microsoft, and powered the growth of Office 365 and Dynamics on launch.

There's a lot each company can learn from the other. It won't always be easy, but there's a very exciting road ahead.

5 Things LinkedIn Brings to Microsoft

1. Culture & values

LinkedIn's culture and values are an enormous asset and truly come from the top. Everyone at LinkedIn can cite at least one value and one cultural tenet. Culture and values are discussed and debated and aren't just posters on the wall. Leaders walk the walk or they don't last.

2. Business operations & planning

Before LinkedIn, though I had been at McKinsey & Company as a consultant and facilitated Microsoft Strategy Day, I had never worked with an internal, dedicated strategy and operations team. LinkedIn has bus ops by function. Those teams have enormous impact.

3. Identify & the power of the network

Bill Gates formulated a concept of Identity going back to the early commercial Internet. Office 365 manifests many types of identify. But these features are based on enterprise adoption. LinkedIn has captured enterprise identify by building a consumer application. LinkedIn's power comes from the data and network. Software is secondary.

4. FoCuS

At LinkedIn, every person at every level is asked to do fewer things, better. Microsoft culture struggles with tradeoffs, referring to "the tyranny of or." In this context, initiatives continue though teams have mostly given up. LinkedIn kills projects, even after significant investment. LinkedIn also clarifies who is the "D", or decision-maker. If you don't know who can make a decision, there probably won't be one.

5. Transformation

Transformation is perhaps the most important value at LinkedIn. As a company, LinkedIn looks for opportunities to drive transformation of self, team, company and industry. Leaders are judged against their ability to transform themselves and others. Microsoft leaders can be held to the same expectations.

5 Things Microsoft Brings to LinkedIn

1. Long-term thinking

Microsoft works with a very long time horizon. Think - waves of the ocean rolling endlessly against the beach. Quarterly sales matter, but product vision counts more. LinkedIn will benefit from being able to plan longer and make bigger bets.

2. Hardware & devices

It's very old news that mobile is now the primary interface for applications like LinkedIn. But what about when professionals adopt AR and VR for collaboration? Microsoft can put LinkedIn on track to be part of that wave, and potentially compete with Facebook and Google in scenarios requiring both hardware and software.

3. Selling to the enterprise

Microsoft sells to almost every corporation of size. LinkedIn enterprise sales, by contrast, are relatively limited. LinkedIn sales teams are also segmented by product. Microsoft has historically had global account control, though that has changed recently. Sales teams will learn from each other. Microsoft will bring enterprise agreements to LinkedIn. Done well, LinkedIn products and services can become nearly ubiquitous.

4. Better together

Microsoft products are built separately but generally work better together. They are more than the sum of their parts. This doesn't always work, and at times slows progress. LinkedIn, by contrast, has struggled to find a balance of sharing its data and remaining in control. LinkedIn data integrated with Microsoft products will make both better. Think - augmented Outlook and Skype profiles. Microsoft workflow integrated into Recruiter. These collaborations should raise the value of all.

5. R&D

LinkedIn is primarily a D (as in development) company. Microsoft spends a tremendous sum on R (as in research). Microsoft backing should enable LinkedIn to spend more on research and embrace moonshots. LinkedIn may also be able to commercialize developments from Microsoft currently waiting in the lab.

I'm extremely excited about the news today. Well executed, Microsoft and LinkedIn together promise enormous wins for users and the teams of both companies.

Comments welcome.

Twitter: @briangoffman