Referly

Referly, operating under the domain refer.ly, was launched in May 2012 as a platform designed to empower everyday consumers to monetize their product recommendations. The company was co-founded by Danielle Morrill, who took on the role of CEO, her husband Kevin Morrill as CTO, and Al Abut as head of design. Danielle Morrill's journey to founding Referly was a multi-year obsession that began years before its launch. Her experience as the first employee and Director of Marketing at Twilio provided her with a deep understanding of community and growth marketing, which directly influenced Referly's concept. The founding team was accepted into the Summer 2012 batch of the prestigious accelerator Y Combinator.

The initial product was a link shortener that automatically appended an affiliate tracking code to any product link shared by a user. This allowed individuals to earn a commission when their friends and followers made purchases through their shared links. The service aimed to democratize affiliate marketing, moving it beyond professional bloggers and scammers to the general public who genuinely advocate for products they love. Referly later expanded its service by launching an API that enabled any business, including SaaS companies, to quickly implement their own incentivized referral programs. This B2B offering allowed companies to set their own reward prices, pre-pay into an account for incentive distribution, and access analytics to track program performance. The business model was transaction-based, with Referly taking a commission on the sales generated through its platform.

Shortly after its launch, Referly secured $1 million in seed funding from a notable group of investors, including New Enterprise Associates, Ignition Partners, and 500 Startups. The platform gained traction, attracting thousands of users who created their own curated storefronts to showcase and earn from their favorite products. Despite this initial progress, the company later underwent a significant pivot. The team scaled back from eight employees to three and changed its focus, eventually rebranding and evolving into Mattermark, a data platform focused on providing intelligence on private companies for venture capital firms and other investors.

Keywords: Danielle Morrill, Kevin Morrill, Y Combinator, affiliate marketing, referral marketing, link shortener, social commerce, consumer-to-business, product recommendations, affiliate links, referral programs, commission-based, curated shopping, Mattermark, seed funding, e-commerce tools, user-generated content, online marketplaces