RelSci is a NYC Startup That is Changing Professional Networking
Link to INC Article: http://www.inc.com/magazine/201404/greg-lindsay/relsci-helps-businesses-build-relationships.html
RelSci has been playfully called the “Roladex on steroids” and the “magic bullet for business development,” but the New York City based company is changing the professional networking world through a web service that produces easy-to-read infographics to display relationships between businesses and professionals. I first found out about the revolutionary company while interning at a boutique hiring firm that had a close connection to the startup.
The RelSci (Relationship Science) model steps beyond the friend recommendation system on Facebook and the self-inflating environment on LinkedIn to produce a service that represents a way to reach a person of prominence. The system breaks up complex network graphs into linear systems that show steps mimicking the idea of “six-degrees of separation” from point A, you, to point X, somebody you want to know (like Paul Graham, Marc Andreessen or Jeff Bezos, all of whom can be linked to on RelSci). RelSci is not based around posting about yourself, like many social networks. The main mission of the website is to show you how to reach out to others.
It seems like it is the ultimate stalking system. You can see the connection strength between people with a color coded edge between nodes. Although it is not publically available for obvious reasons, RelSci’s connection strength algorithm likely takes number of connections, company relations, and background information into consideration. Hovering over a person will show their professional background, including company data and the connections they may have. This service is not only used for individuals looking for a warm introduction through the RelSci system. The web service also works for companies looking expand into markets, as the data scientists at RelSci create algorithms to display the decisions that should be made through easy infographics such as color-coded charts and simplified nodal networks. Currently, universities and non-profits are the most common users of the site.
RelSci is trying to crunch big data that is parsed from all over the internet to create the ultimate network of professionals for anybody to access. The complex network on the internet is simplified through RelSci. The system helps you find a path to the powerful person that you need to get in touch with.