[blumkvist]

The very first thing that should be on everyone's marketing checklist is understanding what marketing is and what it is not. A lot of people use marketing and promotion interchangeably. Promotion is just a part of your marketing strategy.

Marketing is the science of bring a product to market. A good marketing plan includes (among other things) initial market research, analysis of the marketplace (the dynamic relationship between companies, products, segments, distribution channels and consumers), finding a product-market fit (defining product design and specifications based on the market analysis and your short,mid and long-term goals), pricing strategy, and finally - promotion strategy.

There are some great (and free) MOOCs on marketing strategy on coursera. I recommend "Competitive strategy" and "Advanaced competitive strategy" by Tobias Kretschmer, if you are not looking to change the world with this great new app you and your friend are hacking together. Checking out "Introduction to marketing" is good if you want a checklist for consumer-driven philosophy. A rule of thumb when taking MOOCs is to use the videos simply as general pointers. If you want to really learn - use the recommended literature.

[visakanv]

This. The most important part of marketing your X is building a X that matters. This applies whether you're doing a startup or playing in a band. The best promotional tactics will flub on a bleh product that nobody cares about. You'll waste time and money trying to sell something that people aren't interested in buying.

A lot of good marketing is about figuring out how to position your offering in a way that allows people to talk about your stuff. The marketer is really a facilitator- you have as little and as much influence as that sounds.

The promotional stuff at the end, that's the victory lap, that's the easiest bit. The million (or billion!) dollar question is- who does this matter to, and why, and how do we put it in front of them in a way that makes them agree? The rest is just elbow grease.

[vdaniuk]

I second the high quality of "Competitive strategy" and "Advanced competitive strategy" and its value for founders. However, ignore "Introduction to marketing" and other courses that mostly talk about offline marketing, the mental model of large brand management/marketing is very different from start-up world.