????當蒂娜?瓦沙夫斯卡婭為她處于起步階段的社交購物網站Wanelo聘請了6名員工后，她知道自己很快就會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城市里，這對一名年輕創業者來說并不是一件容易的事。所以，瓦沙夫斯卡婭向風險投資公司First Round Capital尋求幫助，后者建立的社交網絡是她最重要的資源之一。

????她進入這家公司的CEO論壇，發帖說明了自己面臨的問題。這個論壇的成員是150位首席執行官，他們的公司都獲得了First Round Capital的資助。不到一個小時，另一家初創型公司的CEO就回帖說，自己的公司就在兩個街區之外，正要搬走，可以把辦公室留給Wanelo。瓦沙夫斯卡婭回憶說：“那個地方的完美程度達到了98%！”

????為了把資金投入最有前途的初創型企業，風投公司競相爭奪，為此它們提供了越來越多的額外優惠條件，比如讓這些處于起步階段的公司接觸到自己的內部專業營銷人員，提供創業者的電子郵件地址等。它們還舉辦年度CEO峰會，讓自己所投資的公司聚在一起，聽取知名CEO的發言，同時建立聯系。總部設在費城的First Round Capital在這方面更進了一步。過去兩年中，這家種子期風投公司為它所投資的企業建立了一個內部社交網絡。這就像點評網站Yelp通過商務社交網絡LinkedIn和社交問答網站Quora聯姻的結晶。初創型公司員工時間寶貴，因此，這個內部社交網絡已經成了他們的必備資源。在這里，他們可以提出任何問題，比如怎樣舉債融資，或者應該付給高級軟件工程師多少工資。

????First Round Capital創始合伙人喬希?科佩爾曼解釋說，他們的目標是讓所投資公司一半的員工都加入他們為創始人、工程師、人事經理和營銷人員建立的論壇中。他說：“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社交網絡的互動。論壇成員必須用Facebook賬戶名登陸。科佩爾曼指出，這是因為“人們可能愿意共用專門的用戶名和密碼，但和別人共享Facebook信息的可能性要小得多。”這些CEO可以決定是否邀請自己的員工加入論壇上的專門群體。這些論壇非常像Quora：有人發帖提問，其他用戶都可以回答。此外，論壇還保留了成員們的點評，評價對象從辦公室工程承包商到律師，范圍越來越大。這些創業者還可以請一些在First Round Capital實習的沃頓商學院（Wharton）MBA學生為他們提供免費咨詢。（比如說：“我們是一家初創型企業，業務是照片共享，我們需要參加美國所有和照片共享有關的會議——有誰知道它們舉辦的時間和地點嗎？”）

????當然，任何人都可以建立社交網絡，但First Round Capital的社交網絡最為出眾，因為它用戶眾多，使用頻繁。我在8月份一個下午進行的演示中看到這個論壇的用戶在4天里提出了27個問題。許多獲得過First Round Capital資金的創業者表示，他們每周都會到論壇上看看，有時候每天都會瀏覽論壇。電子郵件管理程序制作商Xobni首席執行官杰夫?邦福特看了論壇上的所有問題，他的回帖經常有5段那么長。最近他說：“我一點兒時間也沒有，但我就是想寫篇東西來介紹一下怎樣獲得風投資金。”

????為扶持這個網絡社區，科佩爾曼動用了8名內部員工，后者設計、建立了這個平臺，還參與了線上和線下的維護。這個平臺之所以運轉得這么好，很大一部分原因是論壇成員能在First Round Capital每年舉行的60次活動上見面。這些網絡之外的聯系有助于他們培養真實的感情，從而可以在論壇上提出尖銳的問題。

????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.