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I have been in some, with disastrous results. I think it happen in startups so often than I mostly blame the downfall of them to not testing culture.

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This is a very developer-y thing to say.

I read a book written by a brand marketer a couple years ago. He dissected about two dozen big companies that failed and, guess what, every one was due to poor brand marketing.

People tend to see flaws within their area of expertise, for better or worse. A developer is likely to say the problem is due to how software is made, while a brand marketer is likely going to mention poor brand marketing.

Indeed, we're paid to be experts in our area of expertise (by definition), so we should see more flaws there. The key is not to go overboard by declaring that our area of focus is all that matters.

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