> In my view, this is the nastiest of all startup sins: failing to involve customers and their feedback from literally the first day of a startup’s life, keeping the most vital opinions silent—those of the eventual customers—for far longer than necessary.
This seems like it may be a lot easier said than done. Steve seems reasonably humble, but perhaps he's forgotten what it's like to be a "nobody". If you don't have friends/connections/contacts, getting potential customers to notice you might be difficult, especially if you have nothing much to show them.
By having a prototype, you're telling people you've invested some time and effort in the problem already - so they're more likely to get something back if they invest some of their own time.
Steve suggests showing a prototype, but don't spend too much time on it, either -- you could be building the wrong thing.
Just focus on the kind of stuff that Apple would actually put in a marketing campaign -- the 1-3 "major" features that would actually make someone buy. Customers will assume you'll add all the boring "required" stuff anyway.
This seems like it may be a lot easier said than done. Steve seems reasonably humble, but perhaps he's forgotten what it's like to be a "nobody". If you don't have friends/connections/contacts, getting potential customers to notice you might be difficult, especially if you have nothing much to show them.
By having a prototype, you're telling people you've invested some time and effort in the problem already - so they're more likely to get something back if they invest some of their own time.