

Why Marketing and BD Professionals Should Learn to Code - kapilkale
http://www.giftrocket.com/why-marketing-bd-should-learn-to-code

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charlesju
Perhaps this is self-serving, but I completely agree. If you plan to be in the
software business, it pays to know a little bit of what your business is built
on.

The best way to learn how to code is to pick a small project, build it and
deploy. With app stores galore (Google Chrome, Apple, Android) there are
plenty of interesting opportunities for small applications to get your feet
wet. I wouldn't worry about making the next big thing. Pick something fun and
ship it.

I personally would start with a scripting language and build some cool games
with it. I personally would recommend starting with Lua and using Corona
(<http://www.anscamobile.com/corona/>) to get started. This will give you an
application that is easy to build and deploy across multiple platforms.

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Gustomaximus
I agree with most of this. I work in marketing and knowing Excel better than
most (hardly coding I know) and a little bit of VBA and I get a lot of
efficiencies where others can't. I'm now leaning some basic web programming at
the moment. It helps open the mind to what can be done which in turn should
make me a better marketeer when it comes to making plans. Plus it is good to
know if engineers are being asked to do too much or if someone is just work
shy... when invariably we ask people to do too much.

On the flip side I think it would be great for the engineers to spend some
time in marketing and close up that divide to work better together. Often I
see both sides try to keep each other out other their business when much value
can be had when marketing gels with engineering.

~~~
gruseom
_knowing Excel better than most (hardly coding I know) and a little bit of
VBA_

There's no question that spreadsheets are programs, albeit not written in a
general-purpose language. Question for you: what do you do in VBA? i.e. in
what areas does the spreadsheet alone not suffice?

~~~
kapilkale
Most of the time it is because the existing functions are inadequate, so
people end up adding new ones in VBA. StringConcat, for example, is far more
powerful than the regular concatenate function.

<http://www.cpearson.com/excel/stringconcatenation.aspx>

~~~
gruseom
When you say "function" you mean something that just does computation, right?
As opposed to code that accesses the Excel object model to create interactive
effects, like, say, "click this button to change the background color over
there"?

How much VBA could be replaced if Excel gave you the ability to make functions
just out of spreadsheet cells? That is: build any calculation you like in a
spreadsheet, tell Excel "make this calculation be a function called FOO", then
use it wherever you want like a normal function: "=FOO(123,A1)" or what have
you.

~~~
kapilkale
Yes on the definition of function. I did also use VBA to make certain visual
effects possible (the one I remember was some advanced conditional
formatting).

On VBA being replaced-- I don't know. It depends who the users you're talking
about are. Most people I worked with didn't know any VBA because our models
weren't that complicated. I in particular was working on a project that was
computationally heavy.

~~~
gruseom
Can you describe the computationally heavy spreadsheets you made? How many
cells, how many distinct formulas (i.e. distinct except for relative
references), how many worksheets, how long it took to recalculate? Were you
pushing any limits of Excel? Were there annoyances?

(My email's in my profile if you'd rather discuss it offline.)

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sunir
I think knowing how to code helps marketing more than just scripting.

When drafting contracts I apply the DRY principle, modularize sections, and
focus on clarity and meaningful names for section headings.

When planning strategy I look at the whole structure of the market, which
required analytical thinking not unlike system architecture.

Moreover most of the high powered marketing is distribution which is almost
all code these days.

Engineering + marketing = big money.

~~~
ahmadss
I agree w everything you wrote above, but I lack the tech knowledge to
understand the following comparison: "high powered marketing is distribution
which is almost all code these days"

Would appreciate it if you further clarified. Thanks!

~~~
sunir
Things like Google Apps Marketplace, the App Store, Intuit Anywhere, the
Windows Store are all technical. Negotiating with then requires knowledge to
maximize the opportunities.

They are a subclass of the wider deal. The Internet is the main distributor.
If you look at YouTube's growth it wasn't just that they hosted videos but
they found a way to use flash to embed videos on other people's sites.

The Facebook Like buttons are another example of using technology as a primary
form of market expansion.

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xarien
This blog entry makes me want to write a similar entry: "Why coders should try
their hand at marketing and BD." The subtitle would be "A real life lesson in
understanding your customer base."

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ridave
Good stuff, I particularly like #6. As marketer, knowing some programming has
come in handy when working with technical folks who occasionally come down
with a case of tunnel vision.

I would also add:

\- Agency Management - Whether its calling your agency on BS or knowing how to
use firebug to quickly diagnose a site problem, it definitely has saved me.
(Recently I called a disgruntled web designer out about not using font-face
and he has been much easier to get along with since)

\- A focused approach - Since I have started to learn programming I noticed
that I apply programming principles to (rather mundane) tasks that take up a
lot of time but often go overlooked. For example, when programming and
creating variable names I make them as specific as possible, so if someone
else was working on my code they would know exactly what it is. A simple
concept to most people on HN but its something often overlooked by non-
programmers. Open up an excel file from marketing person and you will often be
left scratching your head.

As for tools for learning to code, recently I have seen lots of places talk
about codecademy, but most leave out CodeSchool.com. Definitely recommended -
it's been a been a huge help for me and gotten me to the point where I am
ready to take it to the next level (hopefully @ Hungry Academy).

------
beaker
I think there's a huge difference between the kind of "coding" being discussed
here and the work of an actual software developer. That said, if coding simply
means having some familiarity with the concepts of computer programming, then
I think it definitely makes sense for those people who are interested to
partake!

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Sufrostico
For DBA's should be a must, for automation purposes, backups, custom reports,
etc, etc...

And for Marketing it's just kind of scary... some of those guys start by
saying: "I know how to program and that feature could be ready in a day or a
couple of hours"

~~~
jerednel
I work in marketing->e-commerce and I think it's a great idea to learn to
"program". By no means am I a good developer, but I have played enough with
Rails and PHP and deployed a couple of simple apps to production environments
and I feel like I know enough to understand how to put together a coherent
business requirements document.

I think if not programming, at least process modeling or class diagrams should
be learned.

~~~
Sufrostico
> I think it's a great idea to learn to "program".

Believed or not I'm completely agree with you, learn to program will
definitely improve the way you work.

But sometimes, some guys with little involvement in a project that know "how
to program" cause more damage than good.

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zerostar07
The marketing people I know would make terrible programmers. It's an issue of
attitude.

~~~
coryl
Isn't the idea to be a minimally-functional programmer, rather than an awesome
one?

~~~
zerostar07
I ve had a product manager guy trying to do that. Didn't help; his ideas were
mostly irrelevant. The problem is he grew an attitude and tried to interfere
with my work.

I generally hate analogies, but it's like a real estate agent trying to work
with architects.

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sakai
As a "businessperson" that does some light coding on the side for fun (mostly
scientific programming), I really appreciate the author's argument.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to find organizations that know how to make the
most use out of those skills (outside of the start-up community, and even
within the start-up community it's surprisingly rare to find job postings for
BD folks that mention relevant/valuable coding skills).

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known
Coders should also learn marketing and BD skills.

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bloggergirl
Not being able to code will be, in 10 years, like not being able to parallel
park. People will look at you like, "Really?"

~~~
roopeshv
now, that's total inanity.

~~~
bloggergirl
humbug

