Use case
Founder and alumni networks
A founder network maps the people behind a set of companies: who founded what with whom, who invested, and who left to start the next one. It shows why a handful of alumni groups, like the PayPal Mafia, turn up behind so many later companies.
Updated · Netgraf
Why these networks matter
Startups are built on repeated ties. People who worked together once hire, fund and co-found with each other again, and a single company's alumni can seed an industry. A map makes those repeat ties visible, along with the brokers who connect otherwise separate groups of founders and investors.
How to map one
- Start with the origin company as an organisation node and its early team as people.
- For each person, add the companies they founded or funded next, with business ties labelled "co-founded", "invested in" or "early employee at".
- Date every tie. The timeline will show the diaspora spreading out.
- Cite a source for every tie: public profiles, press, or filings.
An ego network is a good way to start: map one founder's ties first, then merge in the next founder's.