Membership website meets social networking site
Imagine a collaborative website for exchanging business contacts that is basically a cross between the online marketplace of eBay and the social networking site of Friendster.com.
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“Jigsaw provides access to accurate contact information, which is usually time-consuming or expensive to acquire.
At this subscription website, each member provides a few pieces of the puzzle. Thus, the name: Jigsaw.com.
According to the founders, Jigsaw’s mission is to map every business organization on the planet, contact by contact, and keep them current through a collaborative effort. The resulting database, they say, will help business people perform their jobs more efficiently and strategically.
“Jigsaw provides access to accurate contact information, which is usually time-consuming or expensive to acquire,” said Jim Fowler, co-founder and CEO of Jigsaw and a veteran technology sales executive. “Our members collaborate to maintain the quality of the data, creating a self-correcting system that ensures the accuracy of contacts available through the marketplace.”
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Jigsaw works on a pay or play model. Members have the option to pay $25 per month to join the service, or play, which requires members to add 25 new contacts every month to maintain their subscription.
Members join Jigsaw in order to get business contacts, which are obtained with points. Points are obtained by adding contacts, correcting contacts, referring other members or by purchase. Every contact in Jigsaw costs five points or $1.
Adding a contact earns 10 points—provided other members don’t challenge the entry. Challenged contacts result in a 10 point penalty.
Members get a double refund when they get a bad contact. So not only is Jigsaw data risk-free, but members make points when they get a bad contact.
Members can buy points and sell them. Those who want to obtain their points by paying for them (instead of by adding contacts) can purchase points for 20 cents each ($1 per contact). Proceeds go to members who have excess points and choose to sell them.
Jigsaw members choose which of their contacts go into Jigsaw. All contacts are added anonymously.
Referrals drive Jigsaw’s growth. Members get 125 points for each referral (or 25 contacts).
“Jigsaw’s vision of an eBay-like marketplace for contact data transforms ordinary business contacts into a valuable commodity that can be bought and sold,” said Tom Peterson, general partner at El Dorado Ventures, one of two venture capital companies that have invested a total of $5.2 million in Jigsaw.com.
“Jigsaw has what the social and business networking services are struggling to build: A business model that creates immediate success and revenue for both the company and its customers.”
