The truth is that most people prefer to hire someone who is known by someone whose opinion they value and trust. But there was never before a systematic way to identify inside connections to the hiring manager.

Chatting people up at networking events is of limited value, but obtaining introductions is the key to getting the ear of the people they want to reach,

I have no doubt that 90 percent of people will be happy to pay a fee for a referral that they can't get any other way.

People believe that relationships in business matter, but they're often not so good at following through on that. So we help people reconnect.

Users only request a referral for a specific business or career purpose. It's not something 'extra' they work on, but a more efficient way of doing what they already do.

Tools will get better and better at strengthening and leveraging existing relationships. And they will be integrated into whatever you do, whether you are searching, reading news, or receiving calls on a mobile phone.

People join because they believe the most valuable new business contacts come through referrals from people they already know and trust.

On other Web sites you pay for this service. We're giving it away for free because we have a business model layered on top of it.

We facilitate over 1,000 successful referrals per month. Our users accept three-quarters of all requests because they never hear from strangers,