It's a huge step in the right direction if you are willing to get out in front of customers! That's a pretty scary step for most techies. You have to narrow d

It's a huge step in the right direction if you are willing to get out in front of customers! That's a pretty scary step for most techies. You have to narrow down your scope to a specific market vertical. Get as specific as you can. Then you start getting customer feedback ASAP. If you have several (or a lot of ) markets you can go after with your idea, then pick a couple to test. What sometimes happens is you end up in a market that wasn't even on your radar because you talk with somebody about the tech you're building and they apply it based on their experience and, boom, you're in some totally out-of-left-field market that proves to be the lowest hanging fruit. Find some competitors, then use LinkedIn to connect with some former employees, especially sales people. They will be perfect SMEs. Even if you don't partner with them, you can still pick their brain to get a better understanding of the market. Next place to find your hustler would be to identify your best potential customers, then try to connect with one of the technical people via a back door channel (i.e. don't just call the company and ask to speak with them). This is a bit trickier, but still very valuable because you can cultivate a relationship with an inside champion (which makes the sales process much easier). The hardest part (for me anyway) in finding a hustler is that you'll have to spend time working on your value proposition. Once you branch out beyond being the lone soldier, you have to figure out how to communicate your idea to other people. This takes time away from coding, which is always tough for any hacker. But it's an invaluable exercise.