Worst case is you realize you don't have time to finish it quickly, so you buy it from someone else and sell the customers that to keep them happy while you work on the 'real' product.

I realize this approach will probably be hated on by the HN community, but for a certain set of products, it makes perfect sense.

I'll add one more thing:if you guys were selling hardware, you'd have a much greater appreciation for this technique!