| Website | hunch.com |
| Category | Consumer Web |
| Employees | |
| Description | Decision making website |
| Series A, 3/09 General Catalyst Partners | $2M |
Hunch is a consumer web application looking to help users make up their minds.
It helps users make decisions by asking them a series of questions, then using their answers to make a suggestion. Topics vary widely, from entertaining subjects like ‘Which superhero would you be’ to more conventional questions like ‘Should I Switch to A Mac?’ The system then uses the answers to these questions to offer the user a suggested solution, along with an percentage indicating how confident it is with its decision.
In some respects the site is like a hybrid between Wikipedia (where users come to a consensus) and Yahoo Answers (where everyone’s opinion is shown). All of the questions asked are submitted by other members, who also play a role in deciding how answers are judged, but users browsing the site aren’t exposed to flamewars and disagreements revolving around each question so the site is more straightforward than Yahoo Answers.
From a March 2009 blog post by founder Caterina Fake:
What is Hunch? Look. Decision-making is difficult, and decisions have to be made constantly. What should I be for Halloween? Do I need a Porsche? Does my hipster facial hair make me look stupid? Is Phoenix a good place to retire? Whom should I vote for? What toe ring should I buy?
It’s dark and lonely work. Coin-flipping, I Ching consultation, closing your eyes and jumping, postponing the inevitable, Rock-Paper-Scissors, and asking your sister are all time-honored means of coming to a decision – and yet we think there’s room for one more: Hunch.
Hunch is a decision-making site, customized for you. Which means Hunch gets to know you, then asks you 10 questions about a topic (usually fewer!), and provides a result – a Hunch, if you will. It gives you results it wouldn’t give other people.
