Dave McClure says Silicon Valley is ‘functionally illiterate’ at marketing

By Michelle Atagana: Managing Ed.  07.01.13

 

We here at Ventureburn think marketing is really important when it comes to thinking about your overall startup strategy. It’s better to start thinking about it sooner rather than later. It turns out we are not alone. In a series of tweets that appear to have been sent out of frustration, prominent Silicon Valley VC, Dave McClure let it all rip on what he thinks of marketing in the startup space. Hint: he is not impressed.

 

McClure is the founder of popular seed accelerator 500 Startups, which has invested in more than 300 companies, including Markerly, idreambooks, myGengo, Artsicle, Visual.ly, E la Carte, Canva and Udemy.

 

Today the super angel took to Twitter to express some frustrations around the lack of emphasis placed on marketing by startups. He takes issue with the fact that “most startups and investors are bad at marketing” stating that it is one of the areas that Silicon Valley could improve on.

 

He argues that it is “laughable” the Valley is considered a “Mecca for startups, given how functionally illiterate” it is at marketing. He notes that the marketing skills needed aren’t the traditional ones but the that are “critically joined @ hip 2 product development & usability”.

 

The investor also reckons that startups could do well to pay some serious attention to usability and customer interaction. He says that an inability to scale customer acquisition is what ultimately lead to the much talked about Series A Crunch.

 

See McClure’s 11 tweet tirade on startups and investors lack of marketing mindset below:

 

most startups & investors are incredibly bad @ marketing / customer acqstn. this is a systemic silicon valley #FAIL that must be corrected.

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) יולי 1, 2013

 

startups focus too much on building product, w/ limited attention to customer interaction, usability, & marketing. this is also a big #FAIL

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) יולי 1, 2013

 

inability to scale customer acqstn is the single greatest factor in not getting Series A, & ultimately the cause of the “Series A Crunch”.

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) יולי 1, 2013

 

if the valley had more sensible & knowledgeable internet marketing education taught @ B schools or by investors, we’d waste a lot less $$$.

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) יולי 1, 2013

 

if the valley had more sensible & knowledgeable internet marketing education taught @ B schools or by investors, we’d waste a lot less $$$.

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) יולי 1, 2013

 

traditional business schools & most investors are quite vulnerable 2 competition in this area (mktg & cust acqstn). this is an opportunity.

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) יולי 1, 2013

 

I’m appalled at # startups who say “we’ve spent nothing on mktg; our cust acqstn is entirely organic” — aka, “I’m a marketing retard”.

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) יולי 1, 2013

 

if u aren’t doing multi-channel testing on paid & organic mktg, u have no idea what customers cost, & shouldn’t get any funding until u do.

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) יולי 1, 2013

 

the valley skillset that should be in highest demand / greatest scarcity is neither engineering nor design, but rather internet marketing.

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) יולי 1, 2013

 

also: “product/market fit” is rarely a static state of being; competition & changing needs make it a moving target. also, fashion & trend.

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) יולי 1, 2013

 

btw the “marketing” skills I’m talking about aren’t traditional ones — they are critically joined @ hip 2 product development & usability.

— Dave McClure (@davemcclure) יולי 1, 2013

 

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