I think it also depends very strongly on who the people are. I tend to agree with Henry Ford's quip that, if he had asked 1000 people what they wanted in a hors

I think it also depends very strongly on who the people are. I tend to agree with Henry Ford's quip that, if he had asked 1000 people what they wanted in a horseless carriage, they all would have said "a horse." Most people don't have great insight and don't offer great advice, so I'd need a relatively large sample size before I'd even begin to build something. On the other hand, as much as I dislike Steve Jobs from his personal reputation, if he said something was a great idea that would hold a lot of weight with me - enough that I'd probably try to build a product on his recommendation alone.