At LinkedIn, we constantly face trade-offs between catering to the seven deadly sins and making choices that would make the platform a venue for more aspirational behaviors. For example, while LinkedIn was conceived from the start as a platform built on real identity, we initially decided not to let users upload portraits of themselves on their profile pages. We also chose subscriptions rather than advertising as our primary revenue stream because it better aligned with our goal of being a time-saving platform, not a time-wasting one.
A re-broadcast of our episode featuring the audio version of Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman's essay, "Human Nature in Vices and Virtues: An Adam Smith Approach to Building Internet Ecosystems and Communities," published on the Knight Foundation's website. Hoffman discusses how some of the most popular websites leverage some of humankind's less desirable attributes(e.g. "the 7 deadly sins"), and how entrepreneurs and investors can think about building based on virtuous traits. Essay read by Greylock marketing partner Elisa Schreiber.
You can read the essay here:
https://knightfoundation.org/human-nature-in-vices-and-virtues-an-adam-smith-approach-to-building-internet-ecosystems-and-communities/
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