What did Hunch actually do?

Hunch asked you a series of questions to build a taste profile, then used that to recommend anything from movies to products. It was building a preference graph for the web before that was standard.

Was $80M a good exit for Hunch?

For investors yes, but the product died immediately. The founders went on to influential careers — Chris Dixon joined a16z — so professionally it worked out, but the product vision was lost.

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// HALL OF FLAME · STARTUP AUTOPSY

Founded	2009
Closed	2012
Country	USA
Sector	Ai
Total raised	14
Collapse type	Acqui-hire
Founder	Chris Dixon, Tom Pinckney, Matt Gattis

Hunch

"Taught the internet to make decisions — eBay bought it and buried it."

$14M

RAISED

—

EMPLOYEES

MONTHS

acquisition gone wrongAcqui-hire

// Fatal mistake: Acquired by eBay which had no vision for consumer taste graph technology

Key Events Timeline

2009-01

FOUNDING

Hunch founded by Caterina Fake (Flickr co-founder) and Chris Dixon, building a decision-tree-based taste graph for personalized recommendations

2009-09

FUNDING

Hunch raises $12M Series A led by Bessemer Venture Partners to expand its taste graph and recommendation engine

2011-02

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Hunch launches its Taste Graph API, allowing third-party developers to integrate personalized recommendation data into their own applications

2011-11

ACQUISITION ATTEMPT

eBay acquires Hunch for approximately $80M to integrate its taste graph technology into eBay's product recommendation and personalization engine

2012-06

SHUTDOWN

Hunch ceases operations as a standalone product; technology absorbed into eBay's recommendation engine and brand discontinued, effectively ending the Hunch identity

🔥 Hall of Flame 40%🏆 Hall of Fame 35%

Hunch built a "taste graph" that learned your preferences through decision trees and made personalized recommendations.

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// YOUR STARTUP DOESN'T HAVE TO END LIKE THIS

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// THE AI GRAVEYARD DOESN'T END HERE

Hunch followed a documented pattern. Identify the same signals in any company before they reach the point of no return.

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