????上周，我的一個朋友公開叫我是“賣吆喝的”，我想他的確切用詞是“世界級大話王”。

????他是對的。事實上，我很愿意公開表明這樣一個觀點：擁有建造現實扭曲力場的能力，同樂觀精神一樣，都是企業家最有力的武器。

????這種能力對我來說的確有效！它幫我說服了一些明星員工離開了老公司舒服的崗位和我們一起打拼；讓大型跨國公司和我的小小的初創公司共同進行營銷活動；并且讓最好的投資商拿出真金白銀，賭我們的公司將會大有作為。

????盡管我的朋友說對了，但是他只對了一半。舌燦蓮花當然是很重要的，但更重要的是你必須有好的產品。

????14年前，當時網飛公司剛剛誕生幾個月，我需要為我們的網站、電子郵件和法律文件等選擇一個研發代號。當時我絞盡腦汁想起一個朗朗上口的名字，我的一位導師給了我兩條很有用的建議：

????“首先，選一個非常差勁的名字，差到哪怕你找不到你的真實域名的時候，你也不想用這個名字。其次，選一個有意義的名字。這是一個很好的方法，如果你的想法中真的有很重要的東西，那么這個名字會把每個對你的想法感興趣的人都號召起來。”

????于是我給它起了個代號叫“狗糧”（kibble.com）。這樣一個代號能推廣出去嗎？那還用問！

????不過我之所以選擇“狗糧”這個名字，卻是為了一個更重要的原因。我是想讓它提醒我（以及網飛公司的每個人）永遠不要忘了美國廣告業的一句老話：

????“不管廣告做得多好，如果狗不吃狗糧，就不算成功。”

????換句話說，你必須兩手都要抓，產品和促銷不可偏廢。牛排不光烤得要好，聲音也要烤得好聽。產品本身和宣傳語都很重要。

????然而在硅谷卻并非一直都是這樣。我在上世紀80年代末第一次來到這里時，硅谷的等級制度是非常嚴謹的。工程師就是國王，產品就是王道。

????當時的硅谷是美國有史以來最接近真正的精英社會的地方。如果你是工程師，那么最重要的就是你寫的代碼的質量。你長相如何、穿戴怎樣、笑容好不好看，全是不相干的事。這么說吧，90年代初期，我在軟件公司寶藍國際（Borland International）工作。當時工程師們在三樓享受有窗戶和陽臺的大辦公室，但像我們這種做市場和做銷售的，只能待在樓下不通風的小隔間里。

????不過慢慢地，天平開始朝著另一個方向傾斜了。例如有一年，好消息從天而降——我們的一款產品贏得了《個人電腦》雜志（PC Magazine）的技術卓越獎。我們興奮極了，于是紛紛去看這個獎項前幾屆的得主是誰。在我們閱讀歷屆獲獎者名單的時候，你可以感覺到興奮感正從房間中流失。誰？什么？他們不是兩年前關門大吉了嗎？哦我的天哪，這個獎真是個死神之吻！

????隨著軟件被賣給那些從不認為自己是技術人員的人，有一件事也突然變得明顯起來：你需要一些人，以顧客能聽懂的話，將軟件賣給顧客。于是硅谷的企業突然流行從寶潔（Proctor and Gamble）或高樂氏（Clorox）這樣的公司里挖來一些產品經理，為自己服務。

????這讓工程師們很抓狂。不過當你有鐵的試驗數據擺在面前時，那么有些事情哪怕再荒唐，人們也不得不信——比如同樣一個產品，放在藍盒子里賣的銷量是放在紅盒子里賣的兩倍。這讓他們的頭都要炸了。一方面，他們知道，盒子的顏色對產品本身是起不到一丁點兒作用的；但另一方面，他們也確信，數據是不會撒謊的。在苦苦思考幾個小時之后，他們只能承認，也許我們這些做市場的人也是有些價值的，要么就是施了什么魔法——或許兼而有之。

????這些時日以來，人們經常可以在《黑客新聞》（HackerNews）看到對“反營銷論”的盲從情緒。有些營銷人員也沒有意識到，負責技術方面的共同創始人對于他們的成功來說有多么重要。事實上，技術和營銷人員都需要對方。我們一直都是這樣，以后也一直會是這樣。

????如果你說的每句話都是大話，那么做一個“世界級的大話王”并沒有任何意義。最終你還是要交付產品的。拋出一個好的概念當然很重要，但最終你必須要構建這個概念。

????所以變得自信一點吧。你完全可以靠舌燦蓮花來鋪就你的夢想。但是你要做好準備去支持這些夢想。

????網飛公司創業之初，我曾對自己想招募的新人說過這樣的話：“我能預見到，我們公司的股票有一天會漲到100美元。”幾年后我向一個面試官講了這個故事。他問道：“你難道不覺得很好笑嗎？像這樣對人說謊？”

????我想了一分鐘，然后我說：“如果你自己真的相信，那就不算說謊。”

????更不要提或許這件事最終真的能變成現實了。

????本文作者馬克?蘭多夫是在硅谷有多年經驗的企業家、科技高管和初創公司顧問。最近馬克成為在線電影和電視流媒體服務提供商網飛公司的共同創始人，并擔任了該公司第一任首席執行官。

????譯者：樸成奎

????Last week, a friend of mine publically called me out as a Huckster. I think the exact term he used was "world class bullshitter."

????Well, he was right. In fact, I'm happy to go on record as saying that the ability to create a reality distortion field is right up there alongside optimism as an entrepreneur's most valuable weapon.

????It has certainly worked for me! It has helped me to convince superstar hires to leave comfortable positions, get huge multi-nationals into co-promotions with my tiny startup and get A-list investors to bet their real-cash-money that my company might be the next big thing.

????But even though my friend is right, he's only half right. It is certainly important to be able to talk a good game, but you've got to have the goods too.

????Fourteen years ago, when Netflix was only a few months old, I needed to choose a codename -- something to use for our test site, our email and our legal documents. As I was struggling to come up with something catchy, one of my mentors gave me two great pieces of advice:

????"First, pick a name that's so bad, that you won't even be tempted to use it when you run into difficulties finding your real domain name. Second, pick something meaningful. It's a great way to start aligning everyone around what you think is really important."

????So I called it Kibble. Kibble.com. Like the dog food. Unlaunchable name? You betcha!

????But ultimately I chose Kibble for a more important reason: It was to remind me (and everyone else at Netflix) never to forget that old Madison Avenue chestnut:

????"No matter how good the advertising, it's not a success if the dogs don't eat the dog food.

????In other words, you have to have both. Product and promotion. Steak and sizzle. Substance and spin.

????It hasn't always been like that in Silicon Valley. When I first arrived here in the late 1980's there was no question about the hierarchy. Engineers were king. Product uber alles.

????At that time Silicon Valley was the closest thing this country has ever had to a true meritrocracy. If you were an engineer, all that mattered was the quality of your code. What you looked like, dressed like or smelled like was irrelevant. It got to the point that at Borland International, the software company where I worked in the early 1990's, that the engineers were the ones who got the big offices with windows and balconies on the third floor. Us marketing and sales guys were in the airless cubicles below.

????But slowly and surely the pendulum began to swing back the other way. One year, for instance, we got the great news that one of our products had won PC Magazine's Technical Excellence Award. Flushed with excitement, we rushed to see who some of the previous years' winners had been. As we read the list, you could feel the excitement draining out of the room. Who? What? Didn't they go out of business two years ago? Oh my God, this award is the kiss of death!

????As software began to be sold to people who would never consider themselves technical, it suddenly became clear that you needed people who spoke their language. It became fashionable to hire product managers from places like Proctor and Gamble. Or Clorox.

????It drove the engineers crazy. It was best when you had iron-clad test data demonstrating something purely ridiculous; like that software in the blue box sold twice as well as the exact same product in the red box. It made their head explode. On the one hand, they knew with absolute conviction that there was absolutely no reason why the color of the box should make the least bit of difference. But, on the other hand, they also knew with absolute conviction that data didn't lie. After puzzling over this paradox for a few hours they had no choice but to conclude that maybe us marketing people had some value. Or practiced a kind of black magic. Or both.

????These days, the soft bigotry of anti-hucksterism can be seen every day on HackerNews. And there are still plenty of hustlers not quite getting how important their technical co-founder actually is to their success. The truth of the matter is that both sides need each other. We always have and we always will.

????When it comes right down to it, being a world-class bullshitter doesn't mean anything if all you ever spout is bullshit. Eventually you have to deliver. Pitching a concept well is certainly important, but ultimately you have to build it.

????So be confident. Spin some dreams. But be prepared to back them up.

????Back in the early days at Netflix, it wasn't unheard of for me to tell prospective hires that I could see our stock going to a hundred dollars someday. I was telling this story to an interviewer a few years later when he asked, "Don't you feel a little funny? Lying to people like that?"

????I had to think for a minute. Then I said, "It isn't lying if you really believe it yourself."

????Not to mention if it eventually comes true.

????Marc Randolph is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, high tech executive and startup consultant. Most recently Marc was co-founder of the online movie and television streaming service Netflix, serving as their first CEO.