Last year we invested in a company called GutCheck. The concept behind GutCheck is pretty simple: to make the process of talking to one’s target market customer a heck of a lot easier and a lot less expensive. This allows individuals/companies to gain the feedback and insights they need (i.e., qualitative research) without the hassle and expense of hiring a recruiting firm; renting a focus group facility; finding a moderator; traveling to target cities, etc.  That’s the way things have been for 50 years, and it’s time for a change.

We’re happy to report that the company is off to a great start.  They’ve built a web-based application, which provides their clients the ability to recruit specific individuals (i.e., 20-45 year old moms who drive car pool and love TMZ) into a qualitative, one-on-one chat within a matter of minutes for only $40 per interview.  So GutCheck can do in minutes what takes weeks with traditional focus groups and at 10% of the cost.  Not a bad deal.

The company seems to be resonating with the ad agency world, especially those who carry the Account Planner or Account Strategist title.  Marketers are finding Gutcheck to be a great tool, as well as entrepreneurs who don’t have the money for fancy research methodologies and are eager to chat up potential customers to gain feedback on their products or service.

Here’s a video on the company. It does a nice job capturing their value proposition. If you know of anyone who would value such a product, do them a favor and point them Gutcheck’s way.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 6th, 2011 at 2:58 pm and is filed under Innovation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.