Birmingham Bound | The LocAL Series: Linq makes connecting easy for Bayer Properties

Linq’s Founders: Jared Mattsson, Patrick Sullivan, and Elliott Potter.

Birmingham startup, Linq, created a new way to network.

Founders, Elliott Potter, Jared Mattsson, and Patrick Sullivan, worked together at Shipt and founded Linq to create a new way to get connected and stay connected. Shortly after their 2019 launch, the trio got an investment from Alabama Futures Fund, local angel investors, and funding from a San Francisco firm. In a city where networking is highly valued, Linq is changing how people exchange contact information and the founders are using their own connection skills to leave a lasting mark on Birmingham’s business community.

Gone are the days of meeting someone and getting a business card to keep in touch, only to lose the card or waste time entering contacts into a system. Paper business cards are also wasteful considering that 88% of all cards are thrown out in a week.

Linq gives users the ability to create a custom digital page where they can centralize all of their content and then easily share it though QR codes or NFC-enabled products. Linq makes lead generation smoother too. Users can upload stored Linq contacts into a CRM along with details like when and where you met the contact. Personal contacts and professional contacts are easily separated in the app. In addition, Linq’s line of NFC-enabled products makes exchanging information as easy as tapping someone’s Linq card, bracelet, or attachment on their phone.

Potter, Mattsson, and Sullivan are some of the most charismatic people you’ll meet. I asked Elliott Potter what it’s been like to work with local businesses and he said, “It’s been great, it feels like it’s a part of who we are. We’re having fun getting to share our story and the local business community has been incredibly receptive and open to listening to us.”

Among Linq’s Birmingham customers is Bayer Properties, who partnered with Linq last year. Mindy Rohr at Bayer commented, “We love using Linq and have enjoyed a lot of the new features that are available in the app. Our leasing team finds it much easier to keep track of potential prospects and adding those contacts to our CRM is seamless. It was extremely beneficial to be able to download contacts from the leasing team after long days at conferences. We also strive to reduce waste as part of our sustainability efforts at Bayer and now with COVID-19, having a contactless business card is more important than ever.”

Linq has also been involved in several Birmingham conferences, including the Momentum Leadership Conference earlier this year where they made connecting and registration a breeze. They will also help facilitate virtual conferences for Bio Alabama and Birmingham Tech Days. Linq makes it easy to connect with event attendees and speakers during virtual events by creating custom attendee profiles and zoom backgrounds that include a customer Linq QR code, allowing participants to easily share contact information.

Linq’s partnerships with businesses in Birmingham shows the power of LocAL and connection.

Jared Mattsson’s custom Zoom background.