Interesting article about Hoffman, but the title is extremely misleading. There are so many reasons why Microsoft bought LinkedIn that are more important than just getting Hoffman's expertise and a board member.
It's easy for people in tech to ignore how gigantic the CRM market is, but Microsoft has a lot invested in Dynamics and has a huge incumbent competitor in Salesforce, there's no way they could compete if they just started from scratch. However, seamless LinkedIn integration and millions of pre-filled and verified records is a huge boost and an immediate selling point. IMO it's a Hail Mary at competing with Salesforce and if they wanted Dynamics to be viable any time soon it was really their only shot.
It's easy for people in tech to ignore how gigantic the CRM market is, but Microsoft has a lot invested in Dynamics and has a huge incumbent competitor in Salesforce, there's no way they could compete if they just started from scratch. However, seamless LinkedIn integration and millions of pre-filled and verified records is a huge boost and an immediate selling point. IMO it's a Hail Mary at competing with Salesforce and if they wanted Dynamics to be viable any time soon it was really their only shot.