Channel checks
you can put in a memo
A channel check is primary research with a company's customers, distributors, suppliers or former employees, used by investors to test a thesis about demand, pricing or competitive position. Theory Intelligence runs channel checks as a fixed-price Signal Brief: six to eight verified participants, compliance terms agreed in advance, and a signed read delivered in ten business days for USD 7,500 to 12,000.
- Signal Brief: 6 to 8 verified participants, 10 business days, USD 7,500 to 12,000
- Standing coverage of a watchlist through the Intelligence Retainer
- No current employees of the subject company; MNPI briefing to every participant; consent logged
- Participants verified against employer records, professional profiles and, for distributors, line cards
- Provenance appendix written for compliance review
The trouble with the expert network channel check
Channel checks are usually run through expert networks, one call at a time. The analyst books a former regional manager or a distributor, has an hour, and pieces the picture together from five or six such calls over two weeks. The costs are known: USD 1,000 to 2,500 per hour at the largest networks according to 2026 market estimates, and the same experts speaking to many funds on the same name. The less visible cost is verification. A profile says former regional sales director. It was six years ago. Nobody checked.
How Theory does it
We recruit against your thesis rather than from a pool. If the question is whether a distributor is destocking, we find current distributor staff who see the orders. If the question is whether a new product is winning, we find the customers who evaluated it. We verify identity and role before the interview, run the conversation with a sector researcher, and write a signed read: what the channel is saying, how consistent it is, how much weight it should carry.
Compliance by design
We do not recruit current employees of the subject company. Every participant is briefed that material non-public information is not sought and will not be recorded. Consent and topics are logged. The provenance appendix is written so that a compliance officer can review it without calling us, and we will work to your firm's policy.
Formats
A single channel check is a Signal Brief. Coverage of a sector or a watchlist is an Intelligence Retainer: six to ten verified conversations a month and a signed monthly briefing. A full thesis review across the value chain is a Decision Study. See also our work for asset managers and hedge funds.
All work is delivered under The Theory Standard. See services and prices.
Questions about channel checks
How is this priced compared with expert network calls?
A Signal Brief at USD 7,500 to 12,000 covers six to eight verified interviews plus synthesis and a signed read. Independent 2026 estimates put large network calls at USD 1,000 to 2,500 an hour before anyone has analysed them.
Can you cover a company on short notice?
Often. We tell you within one business day whether the right participants can be found and verified in ten days.
Do you work with public market investors only?
No. Private credit, private equity and corporate strategy teams use the same service for the same reasons.
Need this answered?
Write to info@theoryintel.com with the decision. A researcher replies within one business day with a fixed price and a start date.
Start a brief