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Tours of Duty
Organizing the Alliance
How did David Hahn go from a twenty- three- year- old
with no business experience to one of the most sought-
after executives in Silicon Valley? The answer is the
unique way he structured his nine years of working
at LinkedIn. Over four distinct “tours of duty,” Hahn
transformed the company and his career.
His fi rst tour was as a junior business analyst; his
last tour was running all of LinkedIn’s monetization
products as a vice president. Each time, with a differ-
ent manager, he scoped out a mission objective that
led to long- term benefi t for both sides. For the com-
pany, it shipped dozens of key products under Hahn’s
stewardship. For the employee (Hahn), he acquired ...