Case Study: Leveraging the Power of Maven's Referral Program

Recently, a Maven Client was performing research on a semiconductor technology company. The company has been involved in litigation over certain patents for many years, and the Maven Client wanted to understand the significance of the litigation on the semiconductor industry. He was specifically interested in speaking with an intellectual property lawyer who understood the case and the issues involved, but who had never directly involved with the case or any of the litigants. In other words, the Client wanted to talk to someone who was knowledgeable enough to explain the case “in plain English” but who was unbiased and unconflicted.

Like many Maven queries, this was a needle in a haystack search… and one that was perfectly tailored for Maven. The Client’s initial search of the Maven network did not yield the right person- we had many semiconductor professionals and many intellectual property attorneys, but nobody who had the specific knowledge that the Client was looking for. Nonetheless, the Client invited the Mavens that he found hoping to leverage the power of Maven’s network, especially our unique Referral Commission program. It was a good move.

Within 4 hours, the Client was on the phone with exactly the right person – a semiconductor attorney who had been following the litigation out of professional interest, but had not done any work for any of the involved parties and was therefore unbiased and conflict-free. How did this happen? One of the Mavens who had received the email replied that while he was not the right person, he knew the perfect person to cover the question, and he referred that person into the Maven Network.

In the end, the Client gained the insight that he had been seeking; a semiconductor attorney made hundreds of dollars for sharing his knowledge with somebody he hadn’t even heard of when he woke up that morning; and an existing Maven member made a commission of about $75 for clicking a link and inviting his friend to join Maven. Everyone was pleased with the results.

And that’s the Power of Maven.