Rick Marini

Rick Marini

Rick is a serial entrepreneur and pioneer in social media. He is the co-Founder & Managing Partner at Dragonfly Ventures.

Website: www.branchout.com
San Francisco, California, United States
Accredited investor
Member since July 03, 2012
Quote
I love building products that can transform millions of lives in a positive way. Quote_down
  • About
Investor interests
Type of investor Angel
Typical investment size $25,000 - $50,000
Typical investments in a year 5
Categories of interest
Locations of interest
Credentials Accredited Investor
Exits
M&A
Education
1999 Harvard Business School , MBA
I am a(n):

Entrepreneur

If you're an entrepreneur or corporate innovator, why?

I want to change the world.

My favorite startups:

BranchOut

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?

It's a roller coaster. Hang on tight.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs/innovators make?

Under-estimate how tough this job is. But when it works, it's great!

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

1. Go big (big ideas, not just features)
2. Go fast (test, iterate, evolve quickly)
3. Hire the best

Full bio

Rick has over a decade of deep experience in the consumer internet including founding 3 successful companies. In his career, he raised $58 million in VC funding from Accel Partners, Redpoint, Mayfield, August Capital, Norwest, Floodgate Fund and a dozen top tier angels.

Founder of BranchOut - the largest professional network on Facebook.  Raised $49mm from Accel, Redpoint, Mayfield, Norwest and a dozen of the top angels in SV.  

Prior, founded SuperFan - a profitable developer of social games and Facebook apps for top media companies like CBS, MTV, Sony, Universal, etc.


Prior, co-founded Tickle.com - the largest online personality testing site.  Raised $9 million from August Capital. Grew it to be a top 20 site with 200 million registered users and almost $40 million in revenue.  Sold Tickle to Monster in 2004 for over $100 million.


Education:  Harvard MBA (1999) and Univ of NH (1994).