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> I tell them this is analogous to walking into a dentist’s office and proclaiming, “Look how great my teeth look—and without a day of brushing! Do you want to
by unishark 6y ago
> I tell them this is analogous to walking into a dentist’s office and proclaiming, “Look how great my teeth look—and without a day of brushing! Do you want to be my first dentist?” Yuck.
Interesting comparison since a dentist's job is to fix problems (so why would they prefer a customer with no problems?). For other roles, it certainly sucks to fix the mess no one wanted to deal with anymore, but this is often the only thing that motivates hiring you in the first place.
- kenrose 6y agoDentists can fix problems, but like developers, their higher calling is preventing problems. The advice is sound (and applies to domains beyond marketing). Long term, you’re generally better off setting up some best practices early than ignoring them.
- traceroute66 6y agoI would agree with this. Given the choice between (a) some marketing type with an ego and only interested in a corner office with a view and a quiet life or (b) someone eager and not afraid of rolling their sleeves up and getting dirty, I know who I would choose. The same goes with my dentist. I once walked into a dentist as a new patient, all the dentist was interested in was the quiet life (i.e. selling me tooth whitening services). I walked out and never went back. Frankly the entire blog post reads as sneering and looking down at small businesses, completely ingoring the realities of small business life which might prevent the hiring of some marketing types. Its all very well if you live the cushy Silly Con valley "small business" life, but for most small businesses, the reality is different. I'm sure all small businesses would love to employ armies of sales, marketing, technical etc. etc. ... but let's get away from the MBA textbook into real life shall we ?
- melon625 6y agoAuthor here. Through the lens of small businesses, I completely agree with your comment. This post is specifically for venture-backed startups, most likely in Silicon Valley, with technical founders and/or an engineering-first culture. Sounds super specific, but there are a lots of companies in this category! Thank you for reading.
- vikramkr 6y agoI think the point was more about the attitude- instead of walking in and going "my teeth are screwed up, help!" - they're walking in thinking it's a good thing they haven't brushed their teeth. The lack of recognition that there is a problem is the problem there.
- paulcole 6y agoJust curious, how much experience do you have with the field of dentistry outside of being a dental patient yourself?