On September 1st, 2010 Workface Inc acquired Card.ly, a user-friendly virtual business card service. The plan is to roll Card.ly into BusinessCard2 by October 2010. As it happens, just weeks prior to finding out about the acquisition I had stumbled upon and signed up to Card.ly and created my own digital business card.
Now more than ever we should be thinking about our personal brand, our contact information, and tools that make us more accessible to others. I think BusinessCard2 and Card.ly do exactly that. Thinking about this for a moment, I reached out to Lief Larson, President of Workface Inc which is responsible for the acquisition to ask a few questions regarding the acquisition.
1) What attracted you to card.ly and how will BusinessCard2 benefit from this rollup?
We created an interactive business card for the internet in 2006, and broke it off as a stand alone service in 2007. We’ve been monitoring cool products and potential competitors for some time, and card.ly caught our eye when they launched in 2009. Dan at Harkness Labs (creator of card.ly) did something really good with the service, but I think he understood how driven we are to power the business card of the web. We closed on the the acquisition on 8/31/10. The benefit to us is getting to tap into all the incredible users of card.ly. As we roll card.ly into BusinessCard2 we’ve just gained access to thousands of product engineers. Around our office our users and customers have always been our greatest innovators. Already we’ve had more than 100 emails from card.ly users with ideas and suggestion on what they like to see in an internet business card, so the benefits for us started immediately.
2) What’s the big insight you wish more people understood about their online presence / online contacts?
There is opportunity in creating and controlling our own personal brand and being digitally accessible on the web. Doing so can connect you with new friends, customer prospects, employers and others. The business card has existed for several hundreds years in the real world. It’s the world’s tiniest billboard. The same sharing, openness and etiquette that constitutes the spirit of the business card has been missing from the web. Our mission is to connect people in meaningful 1:1 relationships online in a way that preserves the human condition.
3) What does BusinessCard2 do that is special and unique?
BusinessCard2 is networking without walls. You do not need to have a card or log in to a website to view a BusinessCard2. You do not need to have a prior relationship with the owner of a BusinessCard2 to learn more about them. It’s incredibly transparent. In addition, when you have your own BusinessCard2 you can digitally share it with others. I like to think it’s a very polite way of breaking the ice or putting your best foot forward.
4) What are your thoughts on integration, api’s, and services like Facebook connect as it relates to your product/service?
I’m a heavy user of LinkedIn and Facebook. Although I use both, BusinessCard2 has a distinct role not offered by either service. Facebook is where I talk with friends and family, LinkedIn is where I replicate my real world business contacts, but BusinessCard2 is where I tell the world who I am and invite people I don’t yet know to engage me. I think this is an open vs. walled garden scenario.
Facebook connect helps web services to tap into my personal data. I for one am not a big fan of that. I like to keep at list some level of distinction between my personal and professionals lives. So, any comparison to connect and BusinessCard2 is apples vs. oranges. BusinessCard2 does have a portability piece. One unique feature of the technology is that on BusinessCard2-enabled websites you can digitally drop your business card without any software downloads or browser plug-ins. Your BusinessCard2 is detected to exist, and so long as the website accepts BusinessCard2, you can leave your calling card on that site or even shares cards with others. In short, we’ve tried to duplicate the way business cards are shared in the real world, but on the web.
5) How can people learn more about your company and services?
The best way is to visit http://businesscard2.com. We have a strong base of information about how BusinessCard2 works at http://businesscard2.com/learn-more. You can find a comprehensive inventory of features and benefits at http://businesscard2.com/solutions. You can find the role BusinessCard2 plays in your personal branding and marketing at http://businesscard2.com/marketing. And, there is gallery of videos available at http://businesscard2.com/solutions/how-to-use-the-card-videos.
Lief C. Larson, Workface Inc.
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