Ryze.com is a free social networking website esigned to link business professionals, particularly new entrepreneurs. The site claims to have over 250,000 members in 200 countries, with over 1,000 external organizations hosting sub-networks on the site. Both paid and unpaid membership levels are offered. Founded in late 2001 by Adrian Scott in San Francisco, it was the first of the new generation of social networking services, and was a heavy influence on Friendster, which was founded by early Ryze member Jonathan Abrams in 2002.