CollectiveX, a startup founded by repeat entrepreneur and venture capitalist Clarence Wooten, has the chance to disrupt Linkedin.

I gave a teaser about CollectiveX back in November of last year. I can disclose a little more about the service and its features now, although they will not let me post any screen shots other than the one shown below.

CollectiveX is Linkedin the way it should have been done in the first place. The interface to create your bio is question and answer based with nice ajax features. The result is a professional looking and easy to peruse bio. CollectiveX also has advanced calendar, message board,file storage and other features.

But the biggest difference between CollectiveX and Linkedin is that CollectiveX is completely group-focused. You must be associated with at least one group to join and all of the activity focuses on your groups. This makes a lot of sense - groups will form (each with its own subdomain) virally as members start new groups.

For instance, a board of directors group might use CollectiveX to coordinate board meetings via the calendar, upload board minutes for review, and use the discussion board to plan future meetings or follow up on action items. One of the board members may set up a separte group for her church group or charity organization and invite others to join. And so on.

CollectiveX also leverages contacts in a much more intelligent way than Linkedin. Everyone you know is not linked to you. Instead, you choose which contacts you want to share with each group.

The revenue model makes sense. Groups of less than ten people are free. Over ten and you pay a small fee.

This is a winner. I think David Hornik may agree that this is a "Social Network 3.0″.

Sign up for the beta here, which will be coming within a couple of weeks.[via]