LinkedIn Gets a New Rival

While once-hot social media IPOs like Groupon (Nasdaq:GRPN), Pandora (NYSE:P) and Angie�s List (Nasdaq:ANGI) have dropped below their offering prices, LinkedIn (Nasdaq:LNKD) has remained an exception.� Since pricing its deal at $45 in May, the stock sits at $66.50, which values the company at about $6.5 billion (not to mention bestowing a price-to-earnings ratio on the stock of 913).

In light of this success, several startups are gunning for LinkedIn�s market, which is focused on professional social networking.� And one company getting lots of traction is Identified.

The new web service uses sophisticated algorithms to analyze Facebook and other Internet data to create a score that ranges from 0 to 100, which gives you an indication of how �in demand� you are with potential employers.� For example, if you want to work as a stock analyst, it could give you some valuable information on the things you need to work on.

�We believe that our score will help companies make the best hiring decisions possible,� said Brendan Wallace, CEO of Identified.com.� �And it will help professionals make the best career decisions possible to ultimately become more fulfilled in their jobs.�

Wallace believes there is a huge untapped market opportunity, which LinkedIn has yet to address.� He points out that the average LinkedIn user is 44 years old while Identified�s average user is 24, with 90% of them under 30.

�In short, the �Facebook Generation� isn�t joining LinkedIn,� he said.� �They do not see the need to make a distinction between personal and professional networks.� For this generation of �millennials,� the notion of friends is more multi-dimensional and nuanced and therefore they will maintain all variety of personal, professional, and familial relationships on one location: Facebook.�

Identified already keeps all its professional information on Facebook profiles.� The result is that it has made it much easier for Identified to access the information.

Launched in September, the site already has 2.5 million unique visitors and has generated 50 million profiles, while growing at about 3%-4% per day.� Identified also has a high level of compound growth, as each user, on average, brings in five new users.

So far, Identified has raised $5.5 million from top investors like Bill Draper and Chamath Palihapitiya, who is a top executive at Facebook.

However, another telling sign of the power of Identified is that the company recently hired Janet Ryu, who was a top product manager from LinkedIn and helped create the popular You May Know and Who’s Viewed Your Profile features.