????當(dāng)?shù)倌?瓦沙夫斯卡婭為她處于起步階段的社交購(gòu)物網(wǎng)站W(wǎng)anelo聘請(qǐng)了6名員工后，她知道自己很快就會(huì)需要一間更大的辦公室了。在舊金山這樣一座擁擠的高消費(fèi)城市里，這對(duì)一名年輕創(chuàng)業(yè)者來(lái)說(shuō)并不是一件容易的事。所以，瓦沙夫斯卡婭向風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司First Round Capital尋求幫助，后者建立的社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)是她最重要的資源之一。

????她進(jìn)入這家公司的CEO論壇，發(fā)帖說(shuō)明了自己面臨的問(wèn)題。這個(gè)論壇的成員是150位首席執(zhí)行官，他們的公司都獲得了First Round Capital的資助。不到一個(gè)小時(shí)，另一家初創(chuàng)型公司的CEO就回帖說(shuō)，自己的公司就在兩個(gè)街區(qū)之外，正要搬走，可以把辦公室留給Wanelo。瓦沙夫斯卡婭回憶說(shuō)：“那個(gè)地方的完美程度達(dá)到了98%！”

????為了把資金投入最有前途的初創(chuàng)型企業(yè)，風(fēng)投公司競(jìng)相爭(zhēng)奪，為此它們提供了越來(lái)越多的額外優(yōu)惠條件，比如讓這些處于起步階段的公司接觸到自己的內(nèi)部專業(yè)營(yíng)銷人員，提供創(chuàng)業(yè)者的電子郵件地址等。它們還舉辦年度CEO峰會(huì)，讓自己所投資的公司聚在一起，聽(tīng)取知名CEO的發(fā)言，同時(shí)建立聯(lián)系。總部設(shè)在費(fèi)城的First Round Capital在這方面更進(jìn)了一步。過(guò)去兩年中，這家種子期風(fēng)投公司為它所投資的企業(yè)建立了一個(gè)內(nèi)部社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)。這就像點(diǎn)評(píng)網(wǎng)站Yelp通過(guò)商務(wù)社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)LinkedIn和社交問(wèn)答網(wǎng)站Quora聯(lián)姻的結(jié)晶。初創(chuàng)型公司員工時(shí)間寶貴，因此，這個(gè)內(nèi)部社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)已經(jīng)成了他們的必備資源。在這里，他們可以提出任何問(wèn)題，比如怎樣舉債融資，或者應(yīng)該付給高級(jí)軟件工程師多少工資。

????First Round Capital創(chuàng)始合伙人喬希?科佩爾曼解釋說(shuō)，他們的目標(biāo)是讓所投資公司一半的員工都加入他們?yōu)閯?chuàng)始人、工程師、人事經(jīng)理和營(yíng)銷人員建立的論壇中。他說(shuō)：“我們投資了軟件公司，所以我們知道軟件在更高效地建立聯(lián)系方面有什么樣的力量。”

????First Round Capital投資的公司中，CEO掌握著本公司和這個(gè)社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)的互動(dòng)。論壇成員必須用Facebook賬戶名登陸。科佩爾曼指出，這是因?yàn)椤叭藗兛赡茉敢夤灿脤ｉT的用戶名和密碼，但和別人共享Facebook信息的可能性要小得多?！边@些CEO可以決定是否邀請(qǐng)自己的員工加入論壇上的專門群體。這些論壇非常像Quora：有人發(fā)帖提問(wèn)，其他用戶都可以回答。此外，論壇還保留了成員們的點(diǎn)評(píng)，評(píng)價(jià)對(duì)象從辦公室工程承包商到律師，范圍越來(lái)越大。這些創(chuàng)業(yè)者還可以請(qǐng)一些在First Round Capital實(shí)習(xí)的沃頓商學(xué)院（Wharton）MBA學(xué)生為他們提供免費(fèi)咨詢。（比如說(shuō)：“我們是一家初創(chuàng)型企業(yè)，業(yè)務(wù)是照片共享，我們需要參加美國(guó)所有和照片共享有關(guān)的會(huì)議——有誰(shuí)知道它們舉辦的時(shí)間和地點(diǎn)嗎？”）

????當(dāng)然，任何人都可以建立社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)，但First Round Capital的社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)最為出眾，因?yàn)樗脩舯姸?，使用頻繁。我在8月份一個(gè)下午進(jìn)行的演示中看到這個(gè)論壇的用戶在4天里提出了27個(gè)問(wèn)題。許多獲得過(guò)First Round Capital資金的創(chuàng)業(yè)者表示，他們每周都會(huì)到論壇上看看，有時(shí)候每天都會(huì)瀏覽論壇。電子郵件管理程序制作商Xobni首席執(zhí)行官杰夫?邦福特看了論壇上的所有問(wèn)題，他的回帖經(jīng)常有5段那么長(zhǎng)。最近他說(shuō)：“我一點(diǎn)兒時(shí)間也沒(méi)有，但我就是想寫(xiě)篇東西來(lái)介紹一下怎樣獲得風(fēng)投資金。”

????為扶持這個(gè)網(wǎng)絡(luò)社區(qū)，科佩爾曼動(dòng)用了8名內(nèi)部員工，后者設(shè)計(jì)、建立了這個(gè)平臺(tái)，還參與了線上和線下的維護(hù)。這個(gè)平臺(tái)之所以運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)得這么好，很大一部分原因是論壇成員能在First Round Capital每年舉行的60次活動(dòng)上見(jiàn)面。這些網(wǎng)絡(luò)之外的聯(lián)系有助于他們培養(yǎng)真實(shí)的感情，從而可以在論壇上提出尖銳的問(wèn)題。

????By the time Deena Varshavskaya had hired six people for her social shopping startup Wanelo she knew she'd need a bigger office -- soon. That's not an easy task for a young entrepreneur in a city as crowded and expensive as San Francisco. So she turned to one of her most important resources: the First Round Capital network.

????She logged on and posted her question to the CEO forum, a network of 150 CEOs of companies funded by First Round. Within the hour, the CEO of a startup just two blocks down posted that his company was moving and his space was available. "It was 98% perfect!" she recalls.

????As venture capital firms compete to land investments in the most promising startups, they're offering an ever broader array of perquisites from access to in-house marketing professionals and founder email lists to annual CEO summits that gather portfolio companies together to hear from high-profile CEOs and network with each other. Philadelphia-based First Round Capital has taken this to the next level. Over the past two years, the early-stage venture firm has built a private social network for its portfolio companies -- think Yelp (YELP) meets Quora with a sprinkling of LinkedIn (LNKD) -- that has become the go-to resource for time-starved startup employees seeking advice on everything from navigating debt-funding to figuring out how much to pay a senior software engineer.

????First Round founding partner Josh Kopelman explains the firms aims for half the employees of his portfolio companies to participate in forums designed for founders, engineers, hiring managers, and marketers. "We invest in software companies so we understand the power of software to make more efficient connections."

????Each portfolio company CEO manages the company's interaction with the network. Members must use a Facebook (FB) ID to log on because, Kopelman points out, "people might be tempted to share a dedicated log-in and password, but they're much less likely to share their Facebook info." CEOs can choose whether to invite their employees to join dedicated groups within the network. The forums work very much like Quora: someone posts a question, and everyone has an opportunity to answer. In addition, the network has a growing list of user-generated reviews for everything from office contractors to lawyers. And entrepreneurs can also request free consulting from a group of Wharton MBA students that intern with First Round. (Example: "We're a photosharing startup and we need to go to every photo-sharing-related conference in the United States -- where and when are they?")

????Anyone can build at social network, of course, but First Round's network stands out because it is densely populated and frequently used. During a recent demo on an August afternoon, I counted 27 consulting requests made within four days. Many of First Round's entrepeneurs report visiting the network weekly, and at times, daily. As CEO of Xobni, Jeff Bonforte read all of the questions that were posed on the platform, and when he offered up an answer, his posts were often five paragraphs long. "I don't have any time at all, but I'd feel compelled to write a page on how to take on venture debt," he said recently.

????To tend this community, Kopelman relies on an inhouse staff of eight people who designed and built the platform and help to maintain it both online and off. Much of the reason it works so well is because its members have met at any of 60 events First Round hosts during the year. These offline relationships help foster a virtual intimacy that allows members to ask tough questions.