Hunch Introduces Itself to the World
Earlier today, a New York City based startup called Hunch released a video (below) essentially introducing Hunch to the world. In simple terms, Hunch is a recommendation engine — “A what?” you say. It’s a service that uses information added by its users (e.g. you, your friends, connections, other people with similar tastes as you) to build a “taste” graph of things you like, would potentially like, or not like. Then Hunch will take all of that information and process it to make completely personalized recommendations to you.
For example, looking for a new gadget, present idea, restaurant, or vacation spot? Hunch can help with that and it’s very good at helping too. I know this because I once used Hunch to find a present idea for Mandy. Thinking of presents is always tough and Hunch didn’t just recommend the same old “boring” ideas such as jewelry or flowers, it came up with ideas that catered exactly to the information I provided. It really is a very nice service.
However, while I think Hunch is great, the service has been around for a few years and it really hasn’t caught on with the masses (yet). Which leads us to the question of why: why don’t more people know about it? Well, I have an idea as to why. I think the main reason why Hunch hasn’t exploded into the mainstream yet is because of one major reason — until today, no one had ever come up with a good easy-to-understand explanation of it (e.g. what it did, how it works, or why you should use it).
When I applied for an internship at Hunch this past summer (which unfortunately didn’t work out) I told my friends about the service and I realized it took a while to explain (thoroughly) what Hunch is and why they should check it out. And unfortunately because there’s so much to explain, I wouldn’t doubt that some of my friends lost interest somewhere in the middle of my explanation. I also think part of the problem stemmed from the fact Hunch has changed quite a bit over the years in terms of how the company plans to make money from its technology which led to a few different overall business models.
However, this newly released video (which will appear on the company’s homepage in the coming days) by Hunch seems to clearly indicate the future of the company. It’s clear, concise, and easy-to-understand. Now people will understand what the service does and exactly why it will provide value to them. Both of which are key elements to success. After all, if I don’t understand something and I don’t perceive any value from it, then why would I ever consider using it? This video is exactly what Hunch needs to get back on the right track.