From startup mode to being acquired by Yahoo! – The MyBlogLog story
When Scott Rafer contacted the MyBlogLog co-founders – Eric Marcoullier and Todd Sampson on LinkedIn, they were both “working on something cool”. Scott, a serial entrepreneur who knows a valuable company when he sees one, was in between companies – Feedster and (soon to be) MyBlogLog. Well, let’s hear it in his own words:
There was 6 months between Feedster (left Sept 05) and MyBlogLog (joined Mar 06). They were entirely disconnected. In Jan 06, an investor pal put the idea for a distributed social net into my head. I couldn’t get it out.
As I was trawling around the net over the next few weeks, I kept running across MBL’s click-tags. “AH HA!” It occurred to me how they did what they did, and I reached out to Eric via LinkedIn — we had Sean Bonner of metro blogging in common. I called him up; he got Todd on the phone; and I said, “Do you know what else you can do with that?” They quite reasonably said,” Who are you?”.
It all cascaded from there.
The best part of this above conversation was that the connection happened on LinkedIn. Check out the below video to learn more. Also, after the jump, a quick user snapshot on Scott with his two LinkedIn Tips:
LinkedIn User Snapshot:
Who: Scott Rafer, Former CEO, MyBlogLog | CEO, Lookery | Co-founder, Mashery | Chairman, Winksite
How: Well, we didn’t want to let go of an opportunity to sit down with Scott as well as the MyBlogLog co-founders, Eric and Todd, to get the real scoop on what went down between the time Scott assumed the CEO role and Yahoo! acquiring MyBlogLog. And, the role LinkedIn played in triggering that sequence of events.
2 LinkedIn Tips from Scott
1. What’s even better is that we were able to glean some insight into how they use LinkedIn and the feature that brought them together – Advanced Search.
Advanced People Search
is accessible by clicking on “People” under the LinkedIn logo, or “Advanced Search” next to the quick search bar. It is optimized to help you find that highly targeted person at the right time. For example, to find an expert in Six Sigma located in your geographical location to
consult for your company, you would:
- Enter “Six Sigma” in the Keywords field
- Choose your option in the location field
- Specify that you are interested in “consultants/contractors”
2. Another useful LinkedIn feature that’s often used while hiring is reference search.
Reference Search
on LinkedIn is the best way to conduct reliable reference checks on your job candidates. Using the company name and years that the candidate worked at each company, the search results will return former colleagues who can potentially provide unbiased references.
trackback
http://blog.linkedin.com/2008/08/26/from-startup-to/trackback/
Sandeep August 31st, 2008
Linked-In helps you connect..Like no other business network out there.
Cheers,
Sandeep
http://www.Qiu-inc.com
Vishal Singhal August 31st, 2008
Please advise if you have any dedicated Indian Chapter of linkedin or partners who promote linkedin in India. If not, kindly advise how one can become partner of linkedin for promotion of same in India.
Thanks.
Vishal
David Harris September 3rd, 2008
Great tips. The power is in tapping into the ‘weak’links between networks. I’ve only recently starting using LinkedIn: first for reconnecting with people and now for searching. Addictive and hopefully lucrative.
Thanks,
David
RefreshingBusiness.com
Buhle Dlamini September 3rd, 2008
Linked-In definitely connects you but over and above that it really helps you to put yourself out there. As a Professional Speaker many people in my network get to know more of what I do and also see my background.
It’s great!!
Buhle
http://www.motivated.co.za
Tammy Spohrer September 3rd, 2008
Hello,
I was wondering if someone could help me navigate the site.
I want to reach out with some of my jobs I have opened for my clients and do not know where to start.
I know there are great candidates on linked in.
Kind Regards,
Tammy Spohrer
Shore Corporate Recruiting
Hemant Nitturkar September 3rd, 2008
I am starting series of workshops designed to assist budding entreprenuers to either make a considered judgement that they are not cut out from entreprenuership, or if they are then we help them structure the whole thing and hand hold them right upto set up of successful enterprise.
Am looking for subject matter experts to present practical topics in fields like corporate structure, HR policies, Branding, Accounting and Taxation etc. Please contact me on hnitturkar@gmail.com http://www.finfocus.blogspot.com
neelkant bakshi September 3rd, 2008
good for network, yes better to promote on regional basis also.
http://www.packolabel.com
June Collins September 4th, 2008
Thanks. This was very informative.
June Collins
Virtual Assistant
isabel September 7th, 2008
Hi … I am really satisfied with Linked In … Thanks to this network, I did find collaborators, clients, and friends.
rick simmons September 8th, 2008
I am looking to fund my business for a large project if there are any interested parties please feel free to contact me.
http://www.rrtelecom.net
ricardo simmons
http://www.rrtelecom.net
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[...] perhaps a no-brainer nowadays. Here’s a success story: the founders of MyBlogLog met through LinkedIn before they were purchased by Yahoo! (YHOO) for $10 million. Not bad, [...]