I know I have touched on this before in previous posts but it is on my mind a bit so thought I would share.  Building and launching a new product or service is an exhilarating task – I have come to realize I really like figuring it all out.  I also learned a long time ago that building what you think the market wants is perilous without embracing those you will target as buyers early and often.  Opinions are like, well, you know. 

This task is even more complicated when you are building for a new or emerging market or even trying to stimulate growth through a new product or service offering.  What is best for you and your company does not always align with market realities.

I have learned to take a methodical and measured approach to all this using live fire exercises and true market feedback to guide product direction vs. arbitrary gut feelings or suspect 3rd party "research."  Don't get me wrong, these things provide good input and can paint a good macro trend picture but they are not a replacement for legitimate target end-user feedback.  This approach requires patience and maturity in your organization but the costs of being wrong far outweigh the perceived costs of this approach especially if you can quickly and efficiently create and test assumptions – a critical piece of the equation in an early stage company.  If both what market and product capabilities are in flux, this becomes even more complex as you have just doubled the fun.

Tossing the responsibility for the product roadmap and plan over the functional wall to "marketing" really misses the point because in an early stage company this is the roll up of everyone's collective expertise as well as true customer requirements.  Marketing owns the document but the leadership owns the content.

Sales and business development should get an earful every time they pitch or demo.  If they are not, you have bigger problems.  Also, the coolest things to build are not always the most important to your chosen market.  Remember this as engineers lose interest when building mundane but critical capabilities.

You will know when you hit on something because the market begins to give you an earful about all the things you need in addition to what you are showing them.  This is a sign that you are on the cusp of product/market fit and the ride gets even more exciting from here.