How can LinkSViewer save me time?
Do you see the names of Silicon Valley board members, investment firms, individual investors, or management team memebers on a regular basis? If these names often come across your desk (or through your inbox), plugging them into LinkSViewer can save you hours of unnecessary work every week. LinkSViewer shows you that company, person, or VC, and everything that they are connected to. However, the real time saver is that LinkSViewer immediately shows you how their connections are connected. If you wanted to look up lists of everyone's connections and then cross-reference them, it would cost you a great deal of time. Plug the name into LinkSViewer and immediately see the connections to that name, and more importantly, the interconnections between those connections. This is the fastest and best way to quickly see the network of the person or company in question, and if you value your time, there is no question that LinkSViewer is for you.
 
What can LinkSViewer show me that I can't find anywhere else?
You can search the internet for information about any board member, management team member, company or VC firm to find out about them and their connections, but finding out how their connections are connected is a tedious task that requires cross-referencing all of those lists. LinkSViewer shows you these interconnections immediately, saving you a lot of time and effort every time you use it. LinkSViewer also lets you construct networks that interest you. Do you want to see how the networks of two individuals overlap? How two VC firms are related by board member interlock? Do you want to filter that network down to only include early-stage or late-stage companies? LinkSViewer allows you to see all of this and more. Create the networks you want to see, filter them to include only what is important for you, and in minutes you can know all about the networks you're in, you want to be in, or that want you to be in them. Don't make a decision without checking the networks first.
 
Is LinkSViewer easy to use? What will it enable me to do? Why should I begin to think about networks?
LinkSViewer is easy to use. There are several map views available as 'presets,' like on a radio, that help you see several interesting views of a network without needing to know anything. Using the filters and features may seem complicated to start, but the learning curve is fast and furious. This is your first experience with a visual networking tool, so it will be new and different, but we are more than happy to give you a quick introductory demo that will help to get you on your feet and jumpstart your user experience. Soon you'll be creating networks and exploring connections, and learning about the relationships on the screen without even thinking about it. You can hear people talking about networks every day in Silicon Valley in all sorts of contexts. If any aspect of your life or business relates to the networks that are represented in LinkSViewer, don't hesitate to take advantage of this tool that gives you a direct view of your relevant networks. Sign up for a free trial membership to give it a try, and contact us to set up a free demo or to talk about how LinkSViewer can address your specific needs.
 
How can you investigate companies, investors, board members, & management team connections?
You can look up individual network maps for a company, an investor, a board member, or a management team member in order to see how they are connected, and what is included in their network - but this is only the beginning. You can very easily combine networks together in order to see how a board member is related to an investor; how two companies are related to each other; how two companies involved in a merger were related to each other; or what three different VC's have in common in terms of investments in private biotech companies. You can investigate your networks so that they focus on whatever is important to you - rounds of capital raised, start year, the number of boards a person sits on - you can manipulate and filter according to many different attributes to find exactly what you're interested in. Check out the Sample Map Gallery to see how.
 
What does a person, a company, or an investor's network look like? Can I combine multiple networks?
After you search for and map the network of a specific person, company, or investor, you will immediately see a picture of their network - a snapshot into their relationships in Silicon Valley. At this point you can make use of 'presets,' like on a radio, to see the network displayed in several different ways that help you to understand different aspects of the network. Are you interested in the board member relationships? Are you interested in the investment network? Quickly see everyone to whom they are connected, and gain an understanding of the context of that connection as well.
You can also combine the networks for two or more people, investors, or companies in one map. You can create very interesting network maps by investigating how different networks are related to each other. These maps will show you not only how these two people (for example) are related to one another, but it will also show you how their networks are related to one another. There may be very interesting connections between their networks that have significant meaning even if the two individuals are not directly connected. This is the kind of relational information that can be found nowhere else, and with LinkSViewer it's available at the click of a button. Check out the Sample Map Gallery to learn more.
 
Why should I be interested in LinkSViewer if I already use Link Silicon Valley?
LinkSViewer is an important value-add for LinkSV users. Here are several ways that LinkSViewer can improve how you use LinkSV:
• Map multiple nodes (companies, investors, people) together in one map to see how their extended networks are related. Find unexpected connections between the networks of seemingly unrelated nodes and get a visual explanation of complex relationships that is easy to read and understand.
• Immediately understand the network of indirect connctions in the network of any node - company, investor, or person (or combined networks of multiple nodes). Save time hours and hours of needless cross-referencing to find out how these networks are interconnected for every name that comes across your desk or into your inbox.
• Save time by speeding up your research. Only minutes are necessary to review a person or company's network map before you have to place a phone call in order to enter the conversation with the background information you need.
• Some users are visually oriented. If you love maps and hate lists, then LinkSViewer is the best way for you to explore the vast amount of data compiled at LinkSV. Learning about relationships by reading file after file just doesn't work for some users, and LinkSViewer's network maps give yo the data in an intuitive way that you can understand.
• Additional search features are available through LinkSViewer that are not available through LinkSV. Because we view the data differently, we allow you to search through it differently. You may find that you prefer to start your searches in LinkSViewer and then link back to LinkSV to drill down into the detailed profiles of the comanies, investors, and people that interest you.
• LinkSV drills down into the details of each entry, giving you all the profile information you need, but if you pair this with LinkSViewer's global perspective - the ability to view multiple nodes at once, as well as the context of their connections, you have the ability to explore the data
• LinkSV and LinkSViewer complement each other. With a little practice you can begin to use them together to perform fluid searches. For example, start in LinkSV on the profile of a company. Click to see the company's LinkSViewer map from it's LinkSV profile page. Manipulate the map and add in other nodes to understand it's network relationships. From this map you identify other nodes of interest. For each of these nodes you can click on the link to see the profile and detailed information in LinkSV, and continue the process as you learn about your networks and the nodes that make them up.
 
Specific uses, IPO's and Mergers & Acquisitions
There are some specific uses that are especially interesting, such as IPO's and Mergers & Acquisitions. LinkSViewer provides a unique way to analyze the relationship capital of a cluster of companies and include network considerations into how you evaluate likelihoods of events like IPO based on the performances of closely related network affiliates. This is also a unique way to see how two companies that are considering developing a relationship are related. What would the new relationship add to each of their networks? Are all of their connections redundant? Can we see how they are related, and how this new relationship came to be forged? You will have to use real-world knowledge to interpret the networks you construct, but this can result in a greater insight into the development and establishment of relationships across Silicon Valley.
 
Can LinkSViewer be tailored to my specific interests?
We are happy to work with you to help you address your specific needs and interests using the current feature set in LinkSViewer. It is not cost-effective to make personalized versions for just one or two users. However, for corporate accounts with specific interests, we are happy to talk about meeting special needs and helping you to address special interests more directly. To learn more about how we can help you address any of your questions about LinkSViewer, please contact us.