As a technical professional, how important is it to learn economics and marketing?

Question

I've often found myself pondering lately if I should invest some time into learning more about economics and marketing just to better understand arguments of non-technical co-workers. Another benefit is that I would be able to better convey why we should implement a feature in this or that way in a manner that doesn't sound all geeky and in a "but the code will look much better and give me a fuzzy warm feeling inside"-kind of manner.

• When is it good/necessary to have a basic grasp of economics/marketing that goes beyond common sense?
• As a co-founder of a company is it necessary to have a good grasp of these aspects, or can you leave it to your co-founders that are more adapt in that area? (Given that you trust them of course)
• Any ideas on good books/articles to begin with?

What are the thoughts on this topic among the members of SO?

Answer 1

For the book list, check out Joel Spolsky's MBA Reading List: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FogCreekMBACurriculum.html

As to whether you should invest your time, I'd say it depends ... does your role/position require you to make those decisions? or are you just a code monkey? If you are considering an enterpeneurial venture, then perhaps yes, this information would be useful.

Answer 2

They underpinn the reasons you get employed, when your skills are high-worth and not and every business decisions that impacts your standard of living ...

At least a basic understanding can be a massive advantage to getting where you need to be.

If you want to code, learn to code. If you want to make money, study money. If you want to make money through coding ... learn both. If I were the co-founder of a company I would want to be at least half as strong on the business end as the technology ... even if I were managing the technological aspects. You need to know what is going on. It all boils down to money in the end.

Answer 3

Economics and Marketing are core principles to Human Behaviour. If there's anything a software developer needs better understanding of, it's human behaviour.

We need to understand our customers, our co-workers, and especially our employers better, and Economics and Marketing (and Sales) all give valuable insight.

Update:

As a co-founder of a startup, it seems to me almost imperative that you read up on Economics and Marketing, and Sales.

Answer 4

I think a great book to start with is "How to make friends and influence people" as it is a book basically about marketing, or selling ideas to others.

After that then learning more about marketing can be helpful, mainly due to the fact that your company is in the business of selling something, and you want to make certain that it is a product that is desired.

For example, auto companies have a problem in they can't tout electric cars as clean cars, as that means that other cars are dirty cars, so they would need to sacrifice gas engine car sales to develop more of a market for electric cars. It is a marketing problem, and one that involves how you define your company.

A good book that touches on that is "The Fifth Discipline", which I found to be fantastic to understand how a company should be, IMO.

If you don't want to be stuck, as just a techie then learning more about business can only be helpful.

Answer 5

Marketing is an industry that uses lots of programmers. There are plenty of computer scientists with advanced degrees working in fields like analytics. You're going to want to know what, say "suppressions" are and what "address standardization" really means. DNC/DNM lists, and how to stay abreast of the current regulations for sharing information with 3rd parties and opt-in/opt-out, etc. There is a surprising amount of knowledge on marketing topics that, while not computer programming, is highly technical and specific in its own way and will influence requirements.

This goes beyond "marketing yourself" or "selling your ideas" in a general way, and is why you can get a BS in advertising (no pun intended).

Answer 6

I think there are 2 different approaches to mention here.

1. Knowledge makes you a better coder: I have managed some large-scale software projects after having worked as a systems analyst in others. I can easily say that programmers with business knowledge outpace others without that kind of knowledge, you are at an advantage when you and the business guys speak the same language. I myself happen to have a PhD in finance and have benefited from it to a great extent.

2. Knowledge makes you a better businessman: This seems too clear to explain. But I'd suggest learning basic finance and accounting instead of economics as they are much more helpful in daily life.

Answer 7

I think a general knowledge of business principles is useful as a programmer. Most projects are undertaken to deliver business benefits. To fully understand the requirements of the project, you need to understand how requirements translate into cash for the company.

If your doing any sort of project management using a methodology like Scrum, you need to be able to identify the business case for each feature so development tasks can be prioritised.

If your a co-founder of a company, it is essential that you have at least a basic understanding of all aspects of your business. Even if your co-founder is doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to sales and finance etc, you should understand the basis for his decisions. Your co-founder should also the basics of programming so that he can appreciate the time & effort required to deliver certain features.

Answer 8

I read somewhere recently--it may have been a "Joel on Software" article--that there are a large number of business people, a fairly large number of software people, and darned few people that can talk to both of those groups (I'm paraphrasing wildly, of course).

So yes, if you have any actual interest as a starting point, by all means "learn the language" of the dark side....

Answer 9

Yes.. Definitely go for it... I am a technical professional with knowledge of Macro and Micro economics, Marketing and Organisational Behaviour. Believe me the impact of your input can be at a different level with your colleagues as you will be perceived to have business acumen and not an IT Professional with lack of business analysis or perspective...Also, it would take your understanding of commercial viability of software to a new level... Regards, Andy