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In some companies, yes. In other engineering-driven companies it's the other way around. In many organizations, marketing is just asking customers what they wa

In some companies, yes. In other engineering-driven companies it's the other way around. In many organizations, marketing is just asking customers what they want. E.g. ask a farmer from the turn of the century, they'd have said "I want a horse that pulls harder and eats less oats!" They'd never have said "I want a tractor!" It's Engineers that conceive of tractors.

dann0 4y ago
Hard disagree. Marketers conceive of tractors. They are the ones by talking to the customers and knowing what they need. They are the ones that know that one engineer has been working on a high power engine, and other on rugged, high traction trailers. Purely engineering firms fail in the long run as they drift away from what buyers want and chase interesting things because they think they know better.
- bazmattaz 4y ago
  I would’ve agreed with you if you had swapped marketers for product managers. Marketers coming up with ideas and dictating those ideas to engineers is just wrong
- moomoo11 4y ago
  Cough meta cough
  - selimthegrim 4y ago
    Zilog too
- birksherty 4y ago
  > Purely engineering firms fail in the long run as they drift away from what buyers want and chase interesting things because they think they know better. Eh, it's not about purely engineering. Many businesses who are not related to engineering fails exact same reason. They only care about short time growth and loses. Happens all the time.
singleshot_ 4y ago
Every time I hear this horse argument I picture a horse that is as strong as 1000 horses and goes 300 miles per hour and I get really sad that they invented cars instead of just giving people what they wanted.
- hnfong 4y ago
  But remember the horse shit you'd need to deal with.
  - singleshot_ 4y ago
    Correction, that YOU would have to deal with. I’ll be three hundred miles away looking for oats. That being said: you are absolutely right. How quickly the externalities are forgotten.

dann0 4y ago

Hard disagree. Marketers conceive of tractors. They are the ones by talking to the customers and knowing what they need. They are the ones that know that one engineer has been working on a high power engine, and other on rugged, high traction trailers. Purely engineering firms fail in the long run as they drift away from what buyers want and chase interesting things because they think they know better.

bazmattaz 4y ago
I would’ve agreed with you if you had swapped marketers for product managers. Marketers coming up with ideas and dictating those ideas to engineers is just wrong
moomoo11 4y ago
Cough meta cough
- selimthegrim 4y ago
  Zilog too
birksherty 4y ago
> Purely engineering firms fail in the long run as they drift away from what buyers want and chase interesting things because they think they know better. Eh, it's not about purely engineering. Many businesses who are not related to engineering fails exact same reason. They only care about short time growth and loses. Happens all the time.

singleshot_ 4y ago

Every time I hear this horse argument I picture a horse that is as strong as 1000 horses and goes 300 miles per hour and I get really sad that they invented cars instead of just giving people what they wanted.

hnfong 4y ago
But remember the horse shit you'd need to deal with.
- singleshot_ 4y ago
  Correction, that YOU would have to deal with. I’ll be three hundred miles away looking for oats. That being said: you are absolutely right. How quickly the externalities are forgotten.