Google has, more than any company, made the beta label on a software product meaningless and is learning that their enterprise aspirations don't jive with having a product like Gmail in "beta" for five years.  Enterprise customers don't want the SLA to be based on that fact that "stuff will happen because it's a beta product."

I'm not saying that you shouldn't pursue a pre-commercial product launch strategy that puts your product in the hands of as many possible target users as possible.  Releasing early and often with actual user feedback is an essential component of building and launching a new product.  Understand that the bar is high as the expectation on "beta" is high these days for the previous stated reason but don't let that distract you.

What really resonated with me last week at the WTIA's Fast Pitch Forum was when Socrata (formerly blist) CEO Kevin Merritt described the beta process as being less about product and more about market these days.  They had their product and brand out there (essentially a database app in the cloud) and the market gave them guidance on how to better position it (sharing data with a focus on government transparency).

Building on Kevin's thoughts, it struck me that the on-demand tools and infrastructure available now make it easier than ever to get something "out there."  The process then is less about the functioning product but more about how you align your product concept and the features you are building with a market – product/market fit.  This requires a vigilant process of creating market hypotheses and testing the heck out of them – "salespeople do x and use y so therefore would find value in my product." 

You can only validate the hypothesis above if you take a methodical approach to putting your product in the hands of a salesperson and seeing if your perceived need is indeed actual need and is the source of realized pain vs. latent. 

You may very well be wrong…but that's ok.  It's beta..