Ask HN: Do You Despise Marketing?

Ok maybe ‘despise’ is a strong word but i still feel there is something irreconcilable in a solo dev’s SaaS and the promotion (s)he has to make to have a chance at earning some money from it.

You and I both scoff at pushy newsletters, influencers, affiliate links, even SEO - which by the way made majority of web unreliable. Yet i know this is the only way to have a try at this attractive idea of working for yourself and introducing a tiny bit more freedom to your life (or is it?).

Then leave it to the pros you say? 9to5 looks just as unattractive.

If we didn’t have things like copy writing, influencers, and landing pages, we’d be worse off. I empathize that marketing can sometimes feel borderline manipulation but ultimately the market will test you and your product to see if it lives up to what’s said/written.

if we didn’t have marketing, we’d have a discoverability problem for which alternative solutions would probably have the same issues as marketing.

I think I despise marketing. For one marketers and spam calls have basically made me put my phone in airplane mode permantely, only allowing people in my contacts to get thru. I am getting close to the point of getting rid of my cell phone. If I get unsolicited emails I set up a rule to send them straight to the trash can. Mostly I am getting tired of every single interaction with a person or technology being used or designed to extract information or money. Don't get me wrong. I am willing to buy things. I just don't want to have to spend X amount of dollars for the rest of my life.

I am not sure I understand where you're coming from. Is your issue that it takes more than building a good product to get people to buy it? Do you wish you could build it and they would come? This is a fantasy that some people subscribe to, and that I have failed to hit repeatedly. In fact, I would say whenever I enter into building anything with this mindset, it's the biggest red flag of impending failure. There is a difference between being an engineer and being a product maker. You wouldn't expect a baker to be an amazing cook even though they both make food would you? If you want to be an engineer without the 9/5 and without the headache of marketing / sales, get a cofounder.

I suggest we make it illegal. To remedy the problem a government website is created. Everyone who has anything for sale MUST list it there including prices and give everyone in the country, regardless who they are, the opportunity to buy it. If your potential customer doesn't know he needs your product it may be carefully described in a machine readable way, critically examined for a fee and listed as a suggestion for the prospects. If they desire it customers may create a detailed profile full of personal information (that will be guarded carefully) The suggestions are ordered by scale of promotion. If you successfully game the system and properly describe the exploit a large bounty will be be paid.