The point is to talk to people to know whether something you want to build is actually going to be great before you go and build it. Most of the time when people go and build what they think is "great" they end up realizing that nobody actually cares. It's a sure-fire way to waste a ton of time of money, which for startups, are the two scarcest resources you have.

this actually isn't bad advice for idiots. so if you're an idiot, by all means it's probably better to ask someone, "how'd you like it if" rather than build it and see. As a great example, everyone knows people like battery life. So if you're an idiot, a great question to ask your customers might be, 'How'd you like it if we made a giant battery, like a car battery, that you can take along as an external battery booster for your next Samsung, so that you can just have it connected and have 72 days of life. It would be deep discharge, so that you have hundreds or thousands of cycles." Why did I use this example? Because only an idiot would ask any customers this. It's idiotic. But if you're the kind of idiot who would make that - then by all means! ask them.

On the other hand, steve jobs didn't need to ask his customers how they'd like an iphone - he told them why they'll like it.

Super interesting perspective here :) Question - in this no-customer scenario what's the downside of trying to solicit feedback from others while you go along?

"imagine if I made a night-sky, but, like, out of swirls"

-Vincent Van Gogh, hypothetical

Starry Night (Value: est. ~$80M-$100M+)

Vincent Van Gogh, Actual