Rick Marini

Rick Marini (born July 5, 1972) is an American entrepreneur, startup adviser, and angel investor.
Rick is known for having founded BranchOut, the professional networking service on Facebook, and for having co-founded Tickle.com, which won a Webby Award for being the fastest growing web site on the Internet in 2002. Tickle was a personality testing site with 200 million registered users. Tickle was acquired by Monster Worldwide in 2004 for over $100 million.
Early Education and Career
Rick was born in Biddeford, Maine and grew up in Merrimack, New Hampshire. In 1994 Rick received a bachelors degree at the University of New Hampshire. He then worked for Fisher Scientific in their mergers and acquisitions group. In 1999 Rick earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he met James Currier, his co-founder at Tickle.
Tickle
Tickle.com was launched in Cambridge, Massachusetts and originally called Emode. In its early days, Tickle offered serious personality tests, similar to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Late, fun tests were added, like the "What Breed of Dog Are You?" test, which became very popular.
After raising $9 million in venture funding from August Capital, Tickle moved to San Francisco, California. The team grew to nearly 80 employees. Monster Worldwide acquired Tickle in 2004. Rick left in January 2007. In April 2008, it was announced that Tickle.com would be shut down later that year.
SuperFan
In 2008 Rick founded SuperFan, a social entertainment site that produced social games and Facebook apps for clients such as CBS, MTV, Sony, and Universal Music.
BranchOut
In July 2010 Rick founded BranchOut, a professional networking service on Facebook. BranchOut has been described as "LinkedIn on Facebook", allowing users to create professional profiles, find jobs, source leads for sales or recruiting, and build a network of professional connections.
In September 2010 BranchOut raised $6 million in venture capital from Accel Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, FLOODGATE Fund, and a number of well known angel investors, including Shawn Fanning, the founder of Napster. In May 2011 BranchOut announced that it has raised an $18 million Series B financing from Redpoint Ventures, Accel Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, and FLOODGATE Fund.
Public Speaking
Rick is a commentator on social media and has spoken at South By South West, DLD and the eG8 Summit. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

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