Science & Tech Quote by Steve Case

Steve Case is doing the classic founder two-step: flattering his own scrappiness while smuggling in a hard truth about how power works. The line lands because it treats “marketing” not as a department but as a political skill set - coalition-building, message discipline, reading a room, and selling a future that doesn’t exist yet. By calling politics the nearest thing to marketing, he’s not praising government; he’s pointing to persuasion as the real currency in both arenas.

The subtext is slightly defensive, in a relatable way. A political science degree can sound abstract next to the myth of the engineer-founder. Case reframes it as practical training for the only job that matters early on: convincing people. Investors, employees, partners, customers, reporters - each group is its own constituency with its own incentives and veto points. That’s politics. And it’s marketing, too.

Context matters: Case came up in the 1990s, when AOL didn’t just compete on product; it competed on narrative. “You’ve got mail” wasn’t a feature, it was a cultural mood. Mass adoption required trust-building and simplification, not just better code. His aside carries a knowing cynicism: outcomes often belong to whoever can package complexity into a story people want to join.

It works because it punctures the romance that markets are purely rational. Case is reminding you that in business, as in Washington, winning isn’t only about being right - it’s about making your version of reality stick.