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Help first, then ask ✦

A friend of a friend
is your next deal

A big deal needs several people to say yes. You know purchasing; your partner knows the person running the tech review. Simmel puts your circles together: see at a glance which link is missing at every account, help your partner fill theirs first, and when it’s your turn, they’ll help you.

Start free →See how it works

Get the iPhone app on the App Store · On a computer, open app.simmelai.com

I know purchasing 👋
I know tech review!
Together: Lanqi Tech 4 / 6 🎉
Why “Simmel”

Simmel is named after a sociologist,
and a “web” older than the internet

The icon is where three circles overlap: you belong to several circles at once, and only you stand where they meet.

Once: one person, one circle
Scroll down and the circles follow the story
Once
One person, one circle

For a long time, a person lived their whole life in a single circle: the same village, the same clan, the same trade — always the same group of people.

1890
The intersection of social circles

The German sociologist Georg Simmel observed that modern people belong to many distinct circles at once: colleagues, classmates, people from the same hometown, people who share a hobby… The more circles and the denser their overlap, the less likely anyone else stands exactly where you do.

1955
The web of group-affiliations

When the essay was translated into English, its title became The Web of Group-Affiliations. Some scholars see it as one of the intellectual roots of what we now call a “network”.

1973
The strength of weak ties

Mark Granovetter showed that jobs and business opportunities often come not from close friends but from acquaintances — because weak ties cross circles.

1992
Structural holes

Ronald Burt pointed out that where two circles have no connection, there’s a “hole”. Whoever stands over the hole and connects both sides gets the information and the opportunities. That is social capital.

Today
Hence the name Simmel

Everyone you know belongs to some circle. Simmel shows you where your circles overlap, finds the link a partner is missing, and lets you help first. When it’s your turn, the person you need is in your partner’s circle.

Help first, then ask. Let circles connect.
What it does

Stop asking “who do you know?”
See which link is missing

A big deal is never one person’s call. Simmel records relationships by decision role: who raises the need, who uses it, who runs the tech review, who handles purchasing, who approves the budget. Which roles are covered and which are still empty is clear at a glance.

Lanqi Tech
Target account · Smart hardware · High priority
RequesterEmptyYou
End userEmptyYou
Tech reviewEmptyX
PurchasingEmptyYou
Budget ownerEmptyYou
LegalEmptyYou
Coverage0 / 6

　

🧩
See the gaps, by decision role

One map per target account: roles you’ve covered, roles still empty, and how fresh each relationship is. On the web, all your target accounts line up in a coverage matrix, so you see at a glance which one to work on next.

🤝
Trusted partners fill each other’s gaps

Partner only with people you trust. The server does the matching: you know the link they’re missing, they know the one you’re missing, and each of you sees where you can fill in.

🌱
Help first, then ask

Simmel first shows who you can help, then who can help you. People you’ve helped remember you, so asking for an intro isn’t awkward. Every intro is recorded, so it’s always clear who helped whom.

How it works

Five steps from “who I know”
to “who can help me”

Tap a step and the phone switches to that screen. Companies and names in the demo are fictional.

  1. 1Add companies and contactsJot down a contact on your phone, or import Excel lists and trade show sign-in sheets on the web in one go — Simmel recognizes each company and spots duplicates.
  2. 2Tag decision rolesPick a department and Simmel ticks the most likely role for you; just adjust it. You immediately see which role a target account is still missing.
  3. 3Invite trusted partnersSend an invite link to someone you trust. Only after they accept do you see each other’s company-level signals. Target accounts, buyer profiles and updates can each be turned off per partner.
  4. 4See who can fill your gaps, and who you can helpSimmel lists which of your gaps partners can fill and who you can help first. Help out now; next time it’s your turn.
  5. 5Ask for the introPick a partner and send a request with a ready-made message. Once they agree, they’ll connect you. Tapped by mistake? Undo within 30 seconds.
📱 Mobile app

Capture and respond on the go

  • Add a contact right after meeting a client
  • Accept or decline a partner’s intro request in one tap
  • Before heading out, check who’s still missing and who can help
💻 Web

Organize in bulk, see the big picture

  • Import Excel lists and trade show sign-in sheets in one go
  • Line up all target accounts in a coverage matrix and pick the one to work on
  • Export all your data anytime

Same account, same library: what you change on your phone shows up on the web right away.

Time savers

Leave the busywork
to Simmel

Whatever can be automated is, and every suggestion counts only once you tap it. Pink labels are written by AI; blue labels are done automatically by rules.

AI-written
Found the website yunfan-ai.example, and its homepage shows this name ✓

Company overviews, written for you

Enter a company name. The server first finds its website (used only after checking that the homepage shows the name), then writes an overview from the website or public information. If the name is too short and could match several companies, you’re asked for the full name or website first. Not right? One tap and it’s rewritten.

Auto-suggested

Departments suggest decision roles

Pick “R&D Center” and tech review is ticked for you; “Procurement” ticks purchasing, “Finance” ticks budget owner. Someone who runs several departments? Pick more than one.

Automatic

Search Chinese names in pinyin

When picking a company or a referrer, type “lq” to find 澜启科技 (Lanqi Tech) or “hj” to find 何静 (He Jing). No need to switch to a Chinese keyboard.

Auto-detected
Zhou NingR&D DirectorTech review
Meng FanPurchasing ManagerPurchasing
He JingCFOBudget owner
Zhou NingR&D DirectorDuplicate?

Bulk import that reads titles and spots duplicates

Drag in an Excel or CSV file. Simmel recognizes the columns and the companies (short names, English names, brands and website domains all count). Titles that say “Purchasing”, “CTO” or “CFO” get a role tagged along the way, and people with the same name at the same company are flagged as possible duplicates.

Auto-suggested
“Yunfan AI makes home robot vacuums and smart cleaning devices, sold in Europe, North America and Southeast Asia…”
Suggested industry: Smart hardware · tap to apply

Industry suggested from the overview

The business described in the overview turns into an industry suggestion. It applies only when you tap it; tap “Ignore” and it won’t come up again.

Auto reminders
Shengneng Tech Missing: purchasing, tech review
He Jing No decision role yet
Lanqi Tech No website yet

Things to complete

Target accounts missing roles, contacts without a role, companies without a website, all in one list. Work through it and your library keeps getting more accurate.

To be clear: only the “public company overview” is written by AI. To write it, only the company name, registered full name and website are sent to the AI service (DeepSeek) — never any contacts or your personal information — and your data is never used to train AI. Every other suggestion is computed by rules, on your device or on the server.

Peace of mind

Partners see the gaps,
not your cards

Relationships are a seller’s most valuable asset. All matching between partners happens on the server, and partners only get company-level signals: which company, which role, whether there’s a connection.

Your library (only you can see it)

Lanqi Tech
Zhou Ning · R&D Director
139 **** 2817 · Can meet for coffee
Qingyu Appliances
Shen Yi · Founder
Miqiu Smart Sensitive
Meng Fan · Purchasing Manager

What partners see

Lanqi Tech
Tech review · Has a connection
Name · Title · Phone · Familiarity
Qingyu Appliances
Has a connection
Small company / owner decides: role not shown
(empty)
Sensitive companies are never matched

　

👀Company-level signals only

Partners see only which company, which role, whether there’s a connection, whether you’re willing to introduce, and how fresh it is. Contact names, titles, contact details and familiarity stay hidden.

🏠Small companies: just “has a connection”

If you know only one person there, or it’s a small company where the owner decides, partners see only “has a connection”, not the role, so no one can guess who it is.

🔒Contact details encrypted

Phone numbers, WeChat IDs and emails are encrypted separately (AES-256-GCM). The database holds only ciphertext, and no other user can see them.

🙈Sensitive companies stay out

Companies marked sensitive stay in your own library and are never matched.

🎚️Switches for each partner

Target accounts, buyer profiles and updates: you can turn each one off for each partner. Only people you’ve approved are partners.

♻️Deleted by mistake? Get it back

Deleted companies, contacts and buyer profiles can be restored within 14 days from Me › Recently Deleted. After that they’re cleared from the database.

🚫No selling, no ads, no AI training

Your information is never sold, used for ads or used to train AI models, and the contact details you enter are never given to any third party.

🧑‍💻Not even our admin console

The admin console shows only statistics and can’t see anyone’s library. The one exception: when handling a report, it can view the reported item. Every action is logged.

If anything here differs, the Privacy Policy prevails. Data is stored on Alibaba Cloud servers in Singapore; after you log in, you’re told this separately and asked for consent. You can export or delete all your data, or close your account, at any time (deleted after a 7-day grace period).

FAQ

Still on the fence?

Can partners see who I know?

No. Partners see only company-level signals: at which company and in which decision role you have a connection, whether you’re willing to introduce, and how fresh it is. Who exactly, how to reach them and how well you know them never leave the server. For small companies, or where you know only one person, not even the role is shown.

Who can become my partner?

You become trusted partners only when you invite someone and they accept, or they send a request and you accept. You can turn off target accounts, buyer profiles and updates for each partner.

Does AI see my contacts?

No. AI is used only to write public company overviews, and all it receives is the company name, registered full name and website. Your data is never used to train AI.

Do I enter everything twice, on phone and computer?

No. The mobile app and the web app (app.simmelai.com) share one account and one library. Change something on one and the other shows it right away.

What if I delete something by accident?

Deleted companies, contacts and buyer profiles can be restored within 14 days from Me › Recently Deleted. Actions like accepting, declining or withdrawing a request can also be undone within 30 seconds.

Does it cost anything?

You can start on the free plan: coverage maps and target accounts are unlimited on every plan. Upgrade when you have more partners and contacts. See pricing on the home page.

Your next deal starts
with someone your partner knows

Start free →Visit the home page

Get the iPhone app on the App Store (not yet available in mainland China — use the web app there)