Estimating market size (part 2)

Finding Free Data

This week, we're taking a look at a few different ways to estimate the market size for a web 2.0 start-up. And today, we're going to talk about where you can find free data.

Data is everywhere. And while you can pay an arm and a leg for professional industry reports, there are plenty of free resources for data. All it takes some ingenuity (and a little patience) to find the numbers you need.

Say your business is a website to help people with diabetes track their insulin levels. You can check out the Centers for Disease and Control to find statistics on people with the disease. Or, let's say you want to create a social network for college students. The US Census Bureau has the population numbers you need.

Throughout the next few blog posts, I'll be linking to sites where you can track down data for free as I show you how we estimated Swivel's market size.