INFORMAL MARKET RESEARCH SOURCES.

Soft-Letter, December, 2000

Like most analysts, we get a steady stream of calls from people who need instant market research. ("Instant" here means "not like Starbucks, but hot and thick enough to serve to investors."). We used to warn these folks that the availability of good syndicated research is almost always a sign that a few well-funded competitors already own the market. That never seemed to make an impression, so we now ask politely if they've tried a simple Internet search. Alas, that's another idea that usually falls flat.

So, largely out of self-defense, we've decided to offer a few of our own favorite sources for informal market data. These sources won't necessarily yield the inevitable hockey-stick growth forecasts that Forrester and IDC can be trusted to provide. But they do...

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