I hold dual degrees in computer science and business management. I think I can do my own marketing, thank you. If not I know people who will for a small fee.
I said "if" for a reason, because this is addressed to a broad audience with different skill sets.
For the record the reason why I made that point is that I would personally value that $3k at higher than $3k because I do not have marketing experience. And yes, there are lots of people who will take a fee to market for me - but I'm not in a particularly good position to know whether I'm getting a good one.
I think he's implying that marketing isn't much of a skill - that competent people with a good product should market themselves. I've heard this from engineers before though can't say I know enough about the intricacies of marketing to weigh in.
Who knows the market of your product better? The person who works hard on it for two months and knows it inside and out, or some guy you met anonymously over the Internet who wants $8000 in exchange for half your stock, just to market it?
Think about it, what does he know about the product? Nothing. You'll spend a lot of time explaining it to him in full details and then he markets those details to strangers, parroting your words.
Knowing your product too well is not necessarily an asset when it comes to marketing, especially if you created it yourself. There is often a tendency to overvalue features which were difficult to code rather than features which add real value. Knowing your consumers is far more important.
You don't need "a lot of time explaining it to him in full details" - he doesn't need to know all the details. If you can't explain the product to him in under a minute, you need spend more time thinking about what is important and what not.
I hold dual degrees in computer science and business management. I think I can do my own marketing, thank you. If not I know people who will for a small fee.