The way I approach it is as a pyramid. First version, really shitty, I just need to get few customers/users and get him/her interested. if they see big holes, go fix it and come back. Work on fixing smaller holes and other features, collect feedback from a slightly larger audience. Repeat such feedback/iteration cycles.

As product becomes more mature, increase size until you have a 1.0, at which point you have a loyal fan base that loves the product and is willing to pay. Then you go full PR, market like crazy and burn VC money in growth.

The point is at each stage you are still validating and gathering feedback without the risk of losing out on a large number of customers.