Researching someone by hand takes about 35 minutes. RunDossier takes about one.
Same steps, same sources — their public LinkedIn profile, the public web, and your own inbox. The difference is who does the reading and the writing.
Built for anyone with more first meetings than prep time.
No credit card. One credit per dossier, about 60 seconds per run.
Step by step
The manual times are from our six-step method. RunDossier runs every step from one input and writes the brief.
| Step | By hand | RunDossier |
|---|---|---|
| Find and read their LinkedIn profile | ~10 min | automated |
| Read their company's website | ~5 min | automated |
| Search for recent news | ~5 min | automated |
| Look for mutual connections | ~5 min | automated |
| Search your inbox for prior contact | ~5 min | automated |
| Write it into a short brief | ~5 min | automated |
| Per person | ~35 min | ~60 sec |
Mutual connections and company context surface through the public profile and web search where they are public; the email step requires connecting Gmail.
The weekly math
Five meetings a week is 20 briefings a month — that is what the credit plans are sized around. Prices are on the pricing section; every account starts with 3 free credits.
The honest column: what by-hand still does better
- Judgement.A dossier reports; it does not know your strategy. It will not notice that their last company is your competitor's biggest customer.
- Thin footprints. Someone with a sparse public profile and no press produces a thin dossier. By hand you might call a mutual contact; RunDossier will not.
- Private sources. Only the public profile, the public web, and your own Gmail are used. Nothing behind a login, and nothing you have not granted.
For the meeting that matters most this quarter, treat the dossier as the first minute of a longer prep. For the other twenty meetings, it is the prep.
What the minute produces
- Person's name
- Sarah Chen
- Context
- VP of Engineering at TechCorp
The at-a-glance block at the end of every dossier — the facts you would otherwise dig out of three tabs.
| Location | San Francisco, CA |
| Tenure | 5 years at TechCorp |
| Company Size | 500+ employees |
| Reports To | CTO, James Miller |
Sarah Chen and TechCorp are fictional; the structure and depth are what a real run produces. Read the full example dossier.
Frequently asked questions
Is 35 minutes per person realistic?
It is the thorough version: LinkedIn, the company site, recent news, mutual connections, your inbox, and writing it up. Most people do a 5-minute skim instead — which is the point. The thorough version is what RunDossier produces in about a minute, so the comparison is against the research you would do if you had time, not the skim you settle for.
What does RunDossier skip that a person would not?
Judgement. It will not notice that a prospect's previous employer was your biggest churned account, and it does not read private sources — only the public profile, the public web, and your own email. For a high-stakes meeting, use the dossier as the first 60 seconds of a longer prep, not the whole of it.
What do I have to enter?
The person's full name plus their company or title. No LinkedIn URL. Enter a person, not a company — the briefing is about the human you are meeting.
What does it cost per briefing?
One credit. Every account starts with 3 free credits and no card; monthly plans and one-time credit packs are on the pricing section of the home page. Monthly plan credits reset each billing period; free and top-up credits never expire.
Spend one minute instead of 35
Three briefings are free, no card. Run it on the next person on your calendar and compare it with what you would have found yourself.
Related reading
RunDossier is a meeting-preparation tool for professional use. It compiles publicly available professional information and, with your permission, your own email history. It is not a consumer reporting agency and dossiers are not consumer reports — see the Terms of Service for permitted use.