I'll give a shout out to Ries and Trout's 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

https://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/d...

It's a quick read, well-written, and the points it makes are as true now as ever, especially I think in terms of true "marketing" - that is, identifying the subsegment among the total addressable market for your particular product that you have the best shot of converting into paid customers, and some approaches for doing so.

Classics:

https://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-Your-Al-Ries/dp/00...

https://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/d...

Seth Godin is another author well worth reading:

https://www.amazon.com/Seth-Godin/e/B000AP9EH0

And a few others:

https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstr...

https://www.amazon.com/Kellogg-Branding-Marketing-Faculty-Ma...

https://www.amazon.com/Differentiate-Die-Survival-Killer-Com...

https://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Advertising-Man-David-Ogi...

And, of course:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=vaynerchuk

There are no magic pills though. The best thing is to read and learn from a lot of perspectives and then start to navigate the waters you happen to be sailing. No two markets or products are going to be the same. In fact, the same product will require a different based on where it is in the adoption/maturity cycle.

So, as far as I always understood, there is a rule [1] that says there can always be only two leaders in a single space. UPS and FedEx, Coca Cola and Pepsi, Oracle and MSSQL, etc.

From my professional perspective (integration specialist of a database vendor), all enterprises are either going to AWS or Azure. I think this is almost inevitable: the differences between the clouds are simply not big enough to make a difference from an executive's perspective, so to manage risk, you either go with what you know (Azure) or the market leader (AWS).

Where would this possibly leave Google? All I can see is that, since it would be impossible for them to get a decent position in the cloud market, they will have to completely reinvent this space and create their own, new market which makes the cloud as we know it obsolete.

I just don't see this happening under their new cloud leadership (former Oracle, sales-oriented exec). It would have to be driven by massive innovation, not by "doing the same stuff as AWS but then slightly better/cheaper".

What are HN's thought about this?

(Obligatory disclaimer: on a personal level I absolutely love Google Cloud and think it's a much more developer-friendly environment, but professionally I just can't make a strong case for why, say, a financial institution should use Google Cloud rather than AWS or Azure.)

EDIT: Did not expect this topic to be downvoted this far. Is this not an appropriate discussion / violate any rules?

[1] "Law of Duality" https://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/d...

A long time ago I read a book called "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" [1] and one of them was don't get caught up with couponing (i.e. sales). They are like drugs: they quickly increase revenue, but now you are dependent on them to get revenue. I like how this exec thinks. (I also like how they'll round up prices to the nearest dollar)

[1] http://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/dp... (not an affiliate link)

So does the book "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" ( http://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/dp... ).

It essentially claims that a brand should not try to be all things to all people. Different brands, however, can. For a good discussion, see: http://www.codemyownroad.com/circumventing-the-law-of-line-e...

Edit: I see the book is written by the same author. Probably no coincidence.

You should check out The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (http://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/dp...)

It's all about carving out your own unique niche in the marketplace and in the consumer's mind.

You'd be surprised just how much your app and outlook will change once you put a unique spin on your offering and focus every feature around it, instead of trying to play catchup with the other guys.

Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion by Cialdini.

http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Busine...

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Violate Them at Your Own Risk!

http://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/dp...

Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to We Usability, by Steve Krug:

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/032134...

Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large Scale Web Sites, by Paul Rosenfeld and Peter Morville:

http://www.amazon.com/Information-Architecture-World-Wide-We...

Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, by Paco Underhill

http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Buy-Shopping-Updated-Internet/d...

And at least one Jakob Nielsen Usability book.

I've been trying to get through a book a week recently, and not quite succeeding. Here's the three I'm going through right now (no affiliate links):

Arabian Nights, Hussain Haddawy's translation. Hilarious and many life lessons, strongly recommended. http://www.amazon.com/Arabian-Nights-New-Deluxe/dp/039333166...

Healthy at 100, John Robbins. Just started, looks promising. http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-100-Scientifically-Healthiest-...

The Psychology of Self Esteem, Nathaniel Branden. Gosh, Branden's so smart, I just wish he'd use smaller words and sentences so I could get his general ideas faster. http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Self-Esteem-Revolutionary-A...

I just gave up on "Execution" by Larry Bossidy, it seems good but I wasn't connecting with it right now.

I read "Katsuno's Revenge and Other Tales of the Samurai" recently, which was a good, short book. It's like 120 pages, with six stories or so. A few of them were interesting, a few didn't speak to me, but overall worth a read. You'll learn some underpinnings of Japanese culture from it. (Also, it's only $9 on Amazon right now, can just add to cart for next order) - http://www.amazon.com/Katsunos-Revenge-Other-Tales-Samurai/d...

Finished "The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan" recently - very interesting, it's a look at the more political machinations and presents a dirtier, less ethical picture of the great strategists in the Sengoku era. http://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Banner-Classics-Japanese-Liter...

Don't start with it if you're not familiar with the era, though, you'll get the general sense wrong. I'd recommend start with Eiji Yoshikawa if you like Japanese history and want to learn more - of course, start with "Musashi", which is fantastic. If you really like it, "Taiko" is good too.

Musashi (my favorite book, huge for people who have lots of potential and are having a hard time dealing with people close to them because of it) - http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Eiji-Yoshikawa/dp/4770019572/r...

Taiko (start with Musashi, if you like it a lot, pick up Taiko) - http://www.amazon.com/Taiko-Eiji-Yoshikawa/dp/4770026099/ref...

Also, finished The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing which is the best business book I've read in a long time. Short, simple, to the point. Highly recommended. http://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/dp...