Reunion.com

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Operates Web site that combines traditionaladvertising-based social networking tools withpremium functions that cost money to subscribers.

Founded 2002. (Los Angeles)



Growth Rate

567%



Executive:

Jeffrey Tinsley, founder and

chief executive



Early Days/Financing:

In the early days we started out very modestly. We had only about $250,000 in the bank to keep things going. I handpicked about 10 guys to invest in the company, many of which had invested in my last startup, GreatDomains.com. In total the company brought in about $1.4 million in angel funding from these initial investors. We focused on building the business in a way that would be cash flow positive from the very beginning. Earlier this year, the company secured $25 million in funding from Oak Investment Partners.



Big Break:

The main thing that has made us successful is that we have always been willing to evolve the business and add to our product offerings. For example, we came up with the idea of allowing users to find out if anyone is searching for them. It is something that people are willing to pay for. It has been highly successful and that is one of the products that has helped us break through.



Biggest Challenge:

Attracting top executive talent. We have been fortunate to attract top executive talent, but it has taken us a little longer than we wanted to find the top players to fill out our team.



Secret of Success:

When it comes to our business model, we are not following what everyone else is doing. A lot of people believe that the services our company provides should be free. At a number of Internet companies, advertising is their sole base of revenue. We are following a more balanced model, where we charge people for many of the services we provide.



What’s Next:

We have a solid business and we currently add about 1 million subscribers a month, but we are trying to attract an even larger number of customers. We are going to double or triple our marketing spending to $50 million over the next few months. Some time down the road when it is appropriate, there will likely be a public offering.

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