12 marketing maladies (and their antidote-bootstrapping!) (Part 4)

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Link: Top 12 lies (marketing maladies)
4. It's viral!
To follow the theme of maladies, this is a favorite in the Web 2.0 universe analogous to the phrase "spreading like wildfire" out in the brick n' mortar world. Just about every story I've ever read on entrepreneurship includes a passage on how successful entrepreneurs were stunned by what ended up creating a market and what didn't. The idea of predicting what will be hot scares the hell out of me, and it should scare you too.
5. If everyone tells three friends you'll have five million customers by the end of the year.
And if no one tells anyone, you won't have enough cash flow to keep the lights on.
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