I doubt there's a business minded co-founder who could have told us the direction we should be going in without learning what we did about hiring first. You're

I doubt there's a business minded co-founder who could have told us the direction we should be going in without learning what we did about hiring first. You're absolutely right, and I agree with this statement. I'm left with the feeling that you don't think this could have been learnt without first writing code, testing the application, and learning the expensive way. It's tough, awkward, and often frustrating, but you can connect with potential users ("prospects" or "strangers") and flesh your idea out without writing a line of code. People are willing to talk, but you have to approach them -- and go outside of your comfort zone to find them.