How we made the 'minimum viable product approach' work

Seth Godin describes why the minimum viable product approach doesn't always work; you can't go through the try/fail loop without support of a community of users.

This is borne out by our experience at Sabisu. In our case, what we had to do was build the community before the product; find something that meets a community's needs, pitch the idea and perhaps a prototype and construct a community to support you.

That community is essential for a few reasons:

1. It's validation - plenty of people will tell you your crazy, so it's nice to have some people around of a different opinion.
2. It's a feedback network - so you can be sure 
1. You start by addressing a real problem rather than something vague and perceived.
2. You continue to address real problems instead of going off at a tangent.
3. If it's a great idea then users may support you in other ways (expertise, for example) in return for early adopter benefit.
4. You get case study opportunities very early, as opposed to launching then waiting a year.