Forbes — …Social networking Web sites like Friendster, Orkut and LinkedIn hit the hype stratosphere last year, pitching their ability to find one a mate or a job. But a more sensible business idea is to sell the Web idea as software to companies to figure out who knows whom, and how well, to close more deals. Why cold-call when someone you know can introduce you? New firms like Spoke Software in Palo Alto, Calif. and Visible Path in New York City let you search address books, in-boxes and call logs of employees, investors, lawyers or anyone you consider part of your company’s ecosystem.
LinkedIn has proven useful because of the quality of the people in the system. http://www.eliyon.com has a lot of what I need. Try looking someone up. It’s quite incredible. Eliyon was started by the fellow who started Corex, makers of the best business cards scanners.