Sangeet Paul Choudary is the author of the blog_Platform Thinking._Patrick Vlaskovits is a NYT bestseller author and CEO of Superpowered. Welcome to the age of the zero-dollar marketing startup. WhatsApp, and earlier Instagram, have officially become a permanent part of startup lore for having built multi-billion dollar businesses without (reportedly) spending a dime on marketing. Meanwhile, Airbnb has grown from a hipster community of mattress-renters to the world’s largest provider of accommodations without spending even a fraction of what traditional hotel chains spend in marketing. Marketing is dead! Or that’s what many would have you believe. A great product sells...

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