bobdorf

as Steve Blank's co-author, I must comment that building a startup is NOT gambling...his and my work and book are often discussed as "applying the scientific metnod to starups..." have a hypothesis, develop a test to prove or disprove it, run the test, read the results, iterate and test again...It is a serious, demanding process that has generated many millions in value for thousands of startups around the world. There is no other process so detailed and granular in its step-by-step process. And luck is at best a trivial influence on startup success...lean methods conceived by steve and in our book are a a far better alternative to the startup casino...

a very powerful inexpensive tool

As Steve Blank says, "most products fail for lack of customers, not technology." Why would you spend time building a product--almost any product--unless you are absolutely sure there's a market for it? What makes your file sharing service different from the others? Where will its market share(and revenue) come from? Why will people choose your product instead of entrenched competition? And why would you spend weeks or months building something unless you're absolutely certain there's a market for it?