By Brier Dudley
The Seattle Times
(MCT)

SEATTLE—Here’s a way to start leveraging your social network.

FriendlyFavor, a Seattle “social-media utility” that launched this month, offers a system for tapping into your network of friends, family and acquaintances. It’s designed to complement social-networking services such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn.

Started by Seattle-area tech veterans Scott Larson and Jeff Patton, FriendlyFavor calls itself an “all-purpose request tool” designed to help people “more efficiently leverage their trusted networks of friends, family, and colleagues for help with referrals, recommendations, advice and other favors or requests.”

The service delivers, archives and manages requests for registered users. It can also be used to build tailored contact lists, including lists where sensitive favors—such as requests for a baby-sitter—can be handled and narrowly targeted.

FriendlyFavor can also be used to broadcast “favors” being offered by users, such as extra tickets to an event or services.

The five-person company was started in 2007 and raised $500,000 from angel investors affiliated with companies including Microsoft, Google and Amazon.com.

It’s expecting to make money from targeted ads, licensing its platform and commissions on “thank you gifts” purchased at Amazon.com and other sites.
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© 2009, The Seattle Times.
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