Filters: Minimum Link = 3

Click on the map to see a larger version that is easier to read.

This is the Company Map for the combined networks of two large investors: Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and Sequoia Capital. An additional manipulation has been performed on this map. The default setting for any map type is to have the "MinLink" feature set at 2. The MinLink feature is located on the taskbar below the map type tabs and above the map itself on the LinkSViewer screen, and for this particular map it has been increased to 3, as shown in the image below.

MinLink works to set a minimum limit on how many relationships in common between two nodes are necessary in order to constitute a link in the map. This map, when viewed with MinLink=2, is a mess, and for the most part unreadable. However, by stripping away the weaker connections, you can see a more readable map that shows the core connections in the network.

There is a lot going on in this network, but it is easy to see areas that are more densely populated than others. Any node that has 3 links to other nodes is well connected, and any node with 4 or more links is very highly connected and serves as a hub that pulls the network together. Areas that have concentrations of these hubs together can be considered to be clusters containing groups of nodes that are related to one another. In order to determine the identities of the common Investors, Board Members, or Management Team Members that form the links in these clusters you must examine the Relational Map for this network, or perhaps construct new maps to highlight the particular clusters in which you are interested.