Scott Sehlhorst reminded me about Geek Marketing 101 by John Dodds.

John writes,

It is so named because I see amongst many geeks a pervasive misunderstanding and consequent distrust of what marketing is, and a failure to recognise that much technology marketing is no longer geek to geek since complex products are increasingly being bought by non-geeks. Of course, these observations are equally applicable to geek to geek and non-geek businesses.

Scott adds,

Don’t let them know, but we’re on our way to understanding how this stuff works.

I spend time with marketers and developers constantly yet I often forget about the chasm between the two. A marketer says "Talk to me like I was a five-year-old," a phrase which translates for a developer to "I don't know enough to work here."

Technical people are often obsessed with technology--the "how" of the product--but people don't care about the 'how' until they understand the 'what'. Marketing people are often obsessed with competitive positioning, the unique selling proposition--they are more concerned with the "what" than the "how"--but customers don't really care how you're better until they understand what you're gonna do for them.

Geeks and flakes need to meet in the middle: what are we going to do for customers?