While other startup founders have to stay home and, you know, work, these guys have the time and the spare $3,000 to spend hanging out at a zero-agenda conference in Hawaii. (For the record, we're jealous.) Spotted in Yahoo executive Bradley Horowitz's Flickr stream: Benchmark entrepreneur-in-waiting Nirav Tolia; "stepped-up" LinkedIn chairman Reid Hoffman; FeedBurner founder Dick Costolo, who's rolling in Googlebucks; Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale; Evan Williams from Twitter; Mashery's Oren Michels; and
Kevin Rose (and his new haircut) from Digg with Joshua Schachter from the Yahoo-owned Del.icio.us. One question: Is this really Meebo CEO Seth Sternberg? I don't recognize him looking so unnerdly. (Photo by: bradley23)

Ever since studly Timesman Brad Stone outed Forbes editor Dan Lyons as Fake Steve Jobs, the author of the faux-Apple CEO Web diary, I've been waiting to see what happens when Lyons meets up with some of the folks he's savaged as the blog's anonymous auteur. I'll get my first chance when Lyons gets interviewed by former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki, who's been repeatedly ridiculed by Lyons as Fake Steve. But why would Kawasaki display any hard feelings when he can use the notoriety of a feud to elevate his rapidly sinking profile? Dignity doesn't move units. The interview, sponsored by LinkedIn, takes place November 6 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. (Photos by hyku)

"i like making things. i stopped going to harvard after i made Facebook." — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on his LinkedIn profile. Do we have a Fake Zuck on our hands? Unlikely. The profile links to Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz and hardworking PR person Brandee Barker. [LinkedIn]

In a shot across the bow of the S.S LinkedIn, Facebook has added "networking" to its list of "looking for" options on profiles. No word yet on whether Google exec Marissa Mayer has checked the box. [AllFacebook]

LinkedIn is opening its site to developers — kind of. "We have no interest in doing it like Facebook with an open API letting people do whatever they want," says LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye. "We're not going to have people sending electronic hamburgers to each other." Party pooper. Will they at least have the greatest app ever? (Photo by Life On The Edge)

At 23, Mark Zuckerberg is already a conference-circuit regular — seen at last month's TechCrunch40 and again at this month's Web 2.0 Summit. But even fans ding Zuck's presence as dull, wooden and robotic. Is he shy? Nah, "He just doesn't care," says a coworker. Despite his current heavy rotation in the media, he only takes the stage when he's told it's a boost for the company. Don't believe it? Zuckerberg's not even scheduled to appear at the Facebook-themed Graphing Social Patterns conference on Sunday in San Jose. The kickoff keynote will be delivered by LinkedIn's more entertaining founder, Reid Hoffman. Aw come on, Mark. After the look-at-me antics and vain false modesty of the tech industry's quasi-celebrities, it'd be a soul-cleansing relief to come watch you stare at your shoes Adidas sandals.

Yahoo wants to boost its social network presence with Kickstart, an amalgamation of Facebook, LinkedIn, and alumni mailing lists aimed at college grads. Still in concept stages, Kickstart will usher in Nepotism 2.0 by helping college students hook up with the alums who hold dream jobs. [The Web Services Report]

David Pogue of the New York Times questions the need for the popular business-oriented social network: "What I don't understand is: If somebody knows me well enough to e-mail me with an invitation to join, why doesn't he just e-mail me directly with whatever his problem or offer is?" [Pogue's Posts]

Valleywag hears that LinkedIn, which has largely missed out on the social-networking buzz, is getting ready for its closeup. Employees were getting lensed today at a photo shoot, which is usually a sign that a company's about to get the cover treatment, or at least a major feature story, from a big business publication. Missing at the shoot, however, was LinkedIn founder and president of products Reid Hoffman, who recently stepped out of the LinkedIn CEO chair. Hoffman, a tipster says, is away in Shanghai, with friend Joi Ito, the Six Apart backer pictured here to his right, purportedly looking for new startups to invest in.

Valley-hot business-networking site LinkedIn uses rival Craigslist to lure applicants, describes itself in the ad as "pre-IPO." Speaking of which, has everyone seen the SEC's warning about "Pre-IPO Investing"? [Craigslist]

Jason Calacanis, in search of a full-fledged strategy for his flailing "human search engine" Mahalo, wants you to work for him. For free. The wealthy Internet tycoon is using Linkedin to ask: "Lots of discussion as to the value of Facebook for startups.... wondering, how would you market Mahalo on Facebook?" Calacanis's Facebook bankruptcy has left the Internet millionaire downright poor — in ideas about how to use social networks, at any rate. Our favorite answer, after the jump.

In the youth culture of social networks, the worst thing to be is the old guy. Even News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, after shelling out $580 million for MySpace, has tired of the website. And the Facebook frenzy could fade equally fast, if more people follow Jason Calacanis's lead and declare Facebook fatigue. That's why Plaxo has a shot — if a shaky one — at transforming itself from spammy address-book manager to the hot new thing, when it relaunches as a networking site on Monday.

I found myself at home in Palo Alto the other day, involuntarily offline thanks to a wonky broadband connection. So I headed to Coupa Cafe to get caffeine and log onto its Wi-Fi hotspot. And, just maybe, overhear an entrepreneur and venture capitalist doing the Sand Hill Road mating dance. Greylock's David Sze likes to hold meetings there, as does LinkedIn founder and angel investor Reid Hoffman. But it's gotten so popular and so packed, that I wasn't able to find an empty outlet — let alone a seat. What to do?

New names attending the mogul confab in Sun Valley, ID this week: Googlers Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Facebook COO Owen Van Natta, and "top executives" from LinkedIn. [Washington Post]

LinkedIn makes another hire from Yahoo: Anil Khatri, a VP of engineering for advertising systems. Tell us, readers: Is he as nasty as Patrick Crane? [SFGate.com]

Talent flows like the tides in Silicon Valley, with executives flocking to the hit companies and leaving the duds high and dry. Which is why we guessed, correctly, that TiVo's Steve Sordello was headed to LinkedIn, and why we weren't surprised to hear that Yahoo vice president Patrick Crane is also joining the hot business-networking website as its vice president of marketing. But we wonder how much due diligence LinkedIn did on the execs that just washed up on its shore.One Valleywag commenter claims Crane, a protege of Jeff Weiner, is "truly nasty." If you have details on why someone might say that of Crane, who looks mostly harmless in this Flickr photo, do tell.

Steve Sordello, ex-Tivo CFO, has resurfaced at IPO-aimed LinkedIn, just as Valleywag suspected. [Reuters]

TiVo, the troubled DVR maker, will soon be on its fourth CFO in less than 18 months. Looks like Steve Sordello, the company's most recent finance chief, has crunched the numbers and found them wanting. He's left for an undisclosed - but "well known" - venture-backed startup. One possibility: LinkedIn, which insiders say plans to hire a CFO this year. Anyone know exactly where Sordello's headed - and what he found wanting about TIVo?

Slide executive Keith Rabois, one of the many new converts to Facebook in Silicon Valley, asks how much a Facebook app user is worth. The increasingly popular social network lets other Web companies plant applications, like Slide's photo-sharing service, on its site. But it's not clear how much loyalty users of such add-ons have to any site besides Facebook. So Rabois's question is apt, if a bit tardy: One wonders why Rabois didn't ponder such matters before Slide CEO Max Levchin got up on stage with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to swear fealty to Facebook's platform.

Reid Hoffman's replacement by a professional manager as chief exec of LinkedIn all looks smoothly handled. The business network's founder, like a man planning his own funeral, interviewed his own successors. He remains as chairman. From colleagues, the classic refrain: Reid is "brilliant", which usually means that he's not the world's most effective manager, but, nevertheless, flattering. It was a nice touch to reveal the changes, first, in an edit to Hoffman's LinkedIn profile page. Only one false note: nobody is called "president of products" — the new title Hoffman has assumed — unless there's a seriously bruised ego to salve.