Let's make a little case study here: Beme, the new app by Casey Neistat that is, in some ways, taking the internet by storm. I had the chance to meet Casey when he came to my university for a talk (along with Jerome Jarre) and he is undoubtedly an intelligent and capable man. His new app, Beme, however, is not all that great. The premise is catchy, but not well implemented imo, and the entire user experience is weak at the very least. Nonetheless, the numbers are rolling in like crazy.

To my point. The example of Beme, proves to me how much the intelligent marketing (invite-only etc) and support of people with a lot of influence is getting people to use an app, which if we're really honest is useless. Would a great app with zero marketing do as well? How much of a startup's success depends on marketing?

PS: Clearly, it will be different according to industry, so we can perhaps talk about apps to keep it focused.