This first map provides multiple connections of Haas alumni to extant companies. Companies appear if there are two or more Haas alumni as board/management team members in the LinkSV database.

Example 1

Here, we see that two companies have three or more Haas affiliations: Tube Mogul has three management team members from Haas and Delivery Agent has one management team member and two board members from Haas. Exploring further, below is a map of Haas alumni that currently have the title CEO (registrants goto Person Filters Title=CEO and Apply Changes).

Example 2

Here, we see a list of 12 people who are currently CEOs at companies. This could be expanded further by clicking “add to map” for any of the 12 people. Roost CEO Alex Chang was added to the map and then we removed Haas as a target node. You can double-click on any person to pop-up their LinkSV bio.

Example 3

Here, we see Alex Chang’s multiple ties to Juliya Rubin (TotalMove, Roost) and Myles Felsing (Haas, Middlebury).

The next examples are two Cluster Maps, which effectively removes Haas as a target node and highlights other pre-existing relationships amongst its alumni (MinLink=3) map which only depicts triads or greater clusters.

Example 4

Here, note the strong relationship to Accenture (n=8). Note again ties to TubeMogul and Delivery Agent.

The next map is the Haas Cluster Map with School Nodes Collapsed into Links (registrants goto Information window Controls).

Example 5

Here, note two large clusters in the map.

We can specify these clusters from the information window Controls by unchecking Collapse School and checking Collapse Companies, Investors, and Experience, leading us to…

Example 6

Here we see the aforementioned Haas clusters as other university ties, the strongest tie being UC Berkeley (+non-MBA degree, n=32), followed by Stanford (n=9), Cornell (n=8), UC-Davis (n=5). This map can be used to identify potential Haas groups based on common education affiliation. Note how double Berkeley Alumni can be identified as strong School Ties toward potential collaborative efforts. It is surprising to note the high number of ties to Cornell (my old stomping grounds) and the surprising Upstate NY-Bay Area connection.

We hope you can use some of the new features of LinkSViewer 1.3 to your own strategic advantage. Feel free to sign up for a free two-week membership by clicking on Free Trial Registration.

Om Malik references a Wired.com post (Fred Vogelstein) on next week’s expected alliance between Google & Apple (cloud computing partnership).  This post reminds us of the extent of the board ties between Apple and Google:

Apple + Google People Relational Map. Notes: (1) Direct Board Ties of Eric Schmidt (Google CEO), Arthur Levinson (Genentech CEO), & Al Gore (Advisor on Google); (2) Indirect Board Ties between John Doerr (KPCB, Apple Board) & Bill Campbell (Intuit Past CEO, Google Board); and (3) Sequoia Capital invested in both companies (albeit Apple went public in 1980). (Source: LinkSV.com).

Thus it should not be a surprise that Apple and Google are teaming up on anything.  While they may have a mutual enemy in Microsoft (although Jobs recent appearance with Gates tempers this a bit), they actually have similar board leadership.  Behind the scenes, there may be more collaboration than we know.  For example, take the Google Maps integration on the upcoming iPhone.  For previous CapitalBLOG commentary on the Google/Apple connection check out Apple and Google - Network Clusters and Interlocks (9/16/06).

Matt Marshall of Venture Beat wrote an interesting item on Sean Parker’s newest venture, Project Agape.  One line (quoting Parker) in the post particularly struck my attention.

“The social graph,” he says, referring to the connection people have with others through multiple degrees, “is the critical ingredient.”

Thus, I found it fitting to illustrate Sean Parker’s network of relevant people, investor, and company connections in the Silicon Valley using LinkSViewer.  Project Agape is still relatively stealth, but there are a few key points from Matt’s earlier interview: Sean Parker’s strong ties to Peter Thiel, and their VC Firm, The Founders Fund.  From this limited info., I searched for and mapped Parker, Thiel, and The Founders Fund together (Source: LinkSV.com).  First I looked at their People Map and then their Investment Map (Pendants dropped).

People Relational Map for Peter Thiel (Investor = Yellow; Outside Board Member = Peach), Sean Parker (Investor = Yellow; Management Team Member = Rose), and The Founders Fund (Tan) - Pendants dropped.  Notes: (1) Related Outside Board Members: Michael Moritz, John Malloy, Roelof Boetha, Keith Rabois, Konstantin Guericke, Reid Hoffman, David Sze, Tim Koogle; (2) Related Management Team Members: Max Levchin; Matt Cohler; (3) Related Companies: Plaxo, Facebook, Friendster, PayPal, Poewerset, Xoom, Tagged, Slide, LinkedIn, Wink, Jaxtr, RapLeaf, Engage.com, Quantcast. 

Network Commentary: Facebook, Plaxo, Friendster, PayPal, and Powerset form central roles in the network as directly linked to Parker and/or Thiel.  Also note the Web 2.0 nature of the network and how all of the companies have been funded in the past 2 years.  David Sze (Greylock) and Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn President, Co-Founder) form key hubs in the network with 3 connections.  The LinkedIn link is also interesting based on the ties to Konstantin Guericke (LinkedIn Co-founder, Ex-VP Marketing), who is now CEO at Jaxtr.  In general, Peter Thiel plays a gatekeeping role connecting the network (as both board member and investor).

Investment Relational Map (same target nodes).  Notes: (1) Related VCs: Felicis, Amidzad, Mayfield, Sequoia, Greylock, BlueRun; (2) Related Angels: Alexander Lloyd, Josh Kopelman, Gil Penchina, Reid Hoffman, Tim Koogle, Ram Shriram; (3) Related Companies: Plaxo, Facebook, Friendster, PayPal, Poewerset, Xoom, Tagged, Slide, LinkedIn, Wink, Jaxtr, RapLeaf, Engage.com, Quantcast

Network Commentary: The companies on the map are the same from the above people relational network.  Both Reid Hoffman and Tim Koogle are the only two people to appear on both maps.  Hoffman has the most Angel ties (4), followed by Gil Penchina (3).  Sequoia (PayPal, Xoom, Plaxo) and Greylock (Wink, LinkedIn, Facebook) have the most VC ties (3).  Note how Powerset forms a central role in the network (8 ties).  This is in part because they had 22 investors, but also because it provides direct linkages to Founders Fund, Thiel (Investor + Board Member), and Parker (his only investment on the map). 

Summary and Speculation

In general, there are some interesting connections on the map, maybe some of them will migrate over to Project Agape?  Parker’s key lesson from Napster (from Matt Marshall’s interview) was that he learned ”about who to hire and who to take money from.”  Gleaning from the Venture Beat article, it does not seem that Sequoia or Sherpalo will be likely investor candidates.  Perhaps key angels (e.g., Reid Hoffman, Alexander Lloyd, or Josh Kopelman) or VCs (e.g., Felicis Ventures, Amidzad, or Greylock) on the investment map will play a future role?  On the people side, maybe David Sze and Reid Hoffman (like Savoir Faire, Reid is everywhere) will play future board member or advisor roles to Agape?  Of course, this is all speculation (from an outsider).  The overarching point here is to illustrate how company decision makers (deciders) can use LinkSViewer to graph social capital relations.  In general, visual social networks can be used to leverage and build personal relationships. 

(Click on the map to view a live version with legend)

Barsema and Kruep probably knew each other at Redback; Kleiner probably knew Kruep at Redback… so was it a secret? Was it a surprise? Om’s right when he says “Hmmm.”

Jazz Pharmaceuticals files for gutsy $172M IPO (Venture Beat)

Jazz Pharmaceuticals Investment Map (Pendants Dropped).  Jazz has a relational capital upside upon IPO because: (1) Lack of inactive companies on the map (and Novacept was a profitable exit); (2) All of the related companies are in the medical, biotech, or nanotech sectors; (3) Public company experience of Sam Colella (Versant Ventures); and (4) Relative success of the the 3 most recent IPO companies on the map (Note: Alexza Pharma recently had their IPO). 

Mike Moritz on Art Rock (VC Ratings blog @ thedeal.com citing Paul Kedrosky’s Infectious Greed blog)

Relational Map of Arthur Rock as both a Board Member and Investor.  Note the current Investor/Board tie to Arena Solutions - other than Intel, this is his only current board.  Check out Arena Solutions as a company to watch.

I use this post to showcase some interesting Google People Network Maps and highlight practical applications of the maps.  This first is the People Relational Map of Google with pendants dropped (both current and former board and management teams included) - this is the map referenced on Blogoscoped:

The above map shows some interesting public company current and former ties: (1) Al Gore, Arthur Levinson, and Eric Schmidt all have board ties to Apple; and (2) George Reyes and Udi Manber are now at Google from Sun and Yahoo, respectively.  Also note the private company ties: (1) VC ties from John Doerr (Kleiner Perkins), Ram Shriram (Sherpalo), and Michael Moritz (Sequoia) to eLance, Zazzle, and Plaxo; (2) Management Team ties from Eric Schmidt and Vinton Cerf to Volunteer Match; and (3) Management Team/VC ties from Sukhinder Singh Cassidy and Shriram to Business Signatures.  Here we see Google’s past and present connections to successful public companies and their ties to private emerging companies.   The next map examines the common ties of the VCs in the above map: Michael Moritz, John Doerr, and Ram Shriram (Numbers 1, 2, and 4 on the 2007 Forbes Midas List, respectively). 

This map illustrates the connections of the connectors. It indicates who has common ties with Google VC board members, two degrees away.  These people are indirectly connected to Google (with the exception of Singh Cassidy).  New board members (current companies) now appearing on the map are Bill Campbell, Bruce Dunlevie, Tim Koogle, Lawrence Lenihan, and Randy Korba.  New companies (person ties) appearing on the map are Intuit (Doerr-Campbell), Good Technology (Doerr-Campbell-Dunlevie), Palm (Doerr-Dunlevie), Friendster (Koogle-Doerr), Saba (Moritz-Lenihan), and PayPal (Moritz-Korda).  Here we see how Google may bolster their board, form strategic partner alliances, or investigate natural acquisitions - based on common ties of their board members.   

For further information and more practical applications of Google Network Maps, check out the below Google-related posts on the CapitalBLOG site. 

Midas List 1-20 Network Analysis 

JotSpot hits the spot for Google

Google Acquires YouTube – Leveraging Relational Capital

Apple and Google - Network Clusters and Interlocks

IPO Speculation using LinkSViewer: Does Success Breed Success?

I was playing around with the network for Kevin Fong, one of the most connected board members in our database when I digressed and began to play with the combined network for two fairly large investors - Mayfield Fund and Foundation Capital. If you click on Kevin’s name (above) you will see a map that shows how Mayfield and Foundation are very centrally located because of the amount of common companies they share with him. Mayfield should be no surprise because he is a general partner there, but it got me to start wondering about what else Mayfield has in common with Foundation…I started a new map by searching for Mayfield and Foundation, and then mapped them together. Now I set the ‘MinLink’ to 1 (a feature in the taskbar, the default setting is 2) and the result was an explosion of information…

Interesting stuff, but unreadable. I decided that I really wanted to look into the management team interlock between their networks of investments. This is the perfect opportunity to make use of the updated tabs in our LinkSViewer tool. If you haven’t used the tool in a while you may not have noticed, but the tabs have been changed to serve like radio presets, creating views that we think serve the interests of the users, and minimizing the time spent applying filters to get to the interesting information.

By clicking on the “Management” tab (5th from the left), LinkSViewer will automatically filter down and display only the management interlock relationships in the network. This change helped a little, but there are still so many management team members involved that the map is cumbersome and unreadable (see this map)… but I’m not interested in all of the management team members, just the ones who connect to more than one of the companies.

Well the ‘MinLink’ is still set at 1, so let’s change that back to 2 by clicking on the “+” icon next to the ‘MinLink’ box. This will filter out any of those management team members on the periphery who don’t have at least 2 links to companies in the map (we’re setting the minimum number of necessary links at 2). Here is the map (click on it to go to the live version):

This is great. I’m getting down to what I really want to see now, but there are still all of those pesky companies that don’t have connections to any of the management team members with at least 2 links in the map. Now I’m going to perform an advanced procedure. The MinLink feature has a way to filter these nodes out as well.

Most of the time the MinLink box has only one number in it. However, if you want to manually insert a comma and add a second number, it can manipulate the map to a greater extent. When just one number is in the MinLink box, it sets the minimum number of necessary links that a node must have to be in the map, but it applies only to the most peripheral set of nodes (the furthest outside - which, in this particular map, can be thought of as the management team members who are on the outside connected to the companies). For the map above, the MinLink is set at “2″. If you enter a comma and a second number, for example setting the MinLink at “2,2″ then we can eliminate those companies with no management team connections. The second number (after the comma) applies to the first degree nodes from the target nodes, or in other words, instead of the most peripheral nodes, it applies to the companies that are 1 degree away from our target nodes of Foundation and Mayfield. So by setting the second number at 2, we are dictating that in this particular map the companies must have at least two links, and just being connected to the target node is not enough. Now the map will be filtered down only to the nodes involved in the management team interlock relationships… check it out:

Now we can see who the management team members hare that connect these two VCs to each other. I think that the large number of common members between the two companies at the top - Packet Design and Precision I/O.

I hope this served to show you some ways to whittle down a big map to a specific point of interest.