[whughes]

The points you make are disturbing. As far as I can tell, the reason why people shy away from SEO is not that it doesn't work. Indeed, it seems like people shy away from SEO because it works too well. At least for me, there's a perception that SEO is evil and crowds out legitimate content. I would hope that these startups are not going over to SEO just because it works; I would hope that SEO is trying to show that it works legitimately.

[webwright]

Good sales teams crowd out great products with crappy sales teams (no no sales at all). Great marketing destroys great products that have no marketing.

The best developers take their head out of the code and realize that it's not a true product meritocracy-- in Google search results, in the App Store, or in any marketplace you care to name. AND they realize that really freakin' awesome things happen when you combine a great product with great marketing.

[mattgratt]

I sell software to big companies (Global 2000) in a new category and SEO has been absolutely vital to our marketing success. People from big companies are actively looking for new solutions w/ Google. (Not like, the CEO, but someone at the architect/pmgmt/tech lead level who may do something.) I've gotten both great OEM leads (from large tech co's even your parents have heard of), great direct sales leads at F500 companies and the (gasp!) federal government, and a lot of activity from consultants, analysts, and journalists.

SEO matters, even in the complex business to business sale, <em>but only if your company and your offering is remarkable</em>. (In the Seth Godin sense - worthy of remark.) Look at how much SEO a company like salesforce.com does.