Lets call this a FOAFF: friend of a friend fundingLinked In got $10 million in funding. The round was led by Greylock. Also adding a few dollars here and there were 14 angel investors, including Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and chairman of Opsware, Joe Kraus, co-founder of Excite, Josh Kopelman, founder of Half.com, and Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal. The latest cash infusion should be enough to ensure the Mountain View-based company’s survival for at least another 18 months, said Reed Hoffman, LinkedIn’s CEO, who used to work for PayPal. (via PaidContent) [ In the real Red Herring I had done a piece on why Marc A, the wunderkid from Netscape had a reverse midas touch: everything think he touched turned to clay. Today being the 10th anniversary of Netscape, it is ironic to see Marc making some news again. I hope Reid bucks the sophomore’s curse. I really like him, even if Linked In has only added to my spam troubles. ] Hoffman has invested in companies like Six Apart and Technorati, which begs the question: if he can make investments in other companies, why can’t he put his own dollars to work in LinkedIn. Just a thought! Social networking is going to meet the fate of WiMAX: unmet expectations, lost venture capital dollars, and one success. Lets hope it is LinkedIn.

On topic of funding, my new favorite application company, Laszlo Systems got $5 million and change in series B founding from Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners (MCVP) who led the round, with strong participation from existing investors General Catalyst Partners and Sofinnova Ventures.If you have seen their email application, you wouldn’t be surprised. I hope they use the dollars and get more developers on board.