Importantly, those people you talk to to validate the idea should ideally be continuously consulted. So rather than: "hey I'm thinking of making this project,

Importantly, those people you talk to to validate the idea should ideally be continuously consulted. So rather than: "hey I'm thinking of making this project, do you think you'd use it?" // "Yeah sure, seems helpful I guess" you have: "hey, person who told me they'd use this, here's the latest update where I've implemented X feature you and some others requested, I also am trialing Y feature that I think might be cool, and I polished Z item that I saw some others were getting hung up on, do you mind trying the latest version out and letting me know what you think?" If you're unable/unwilling to maintain those kinds of relationships/conversations over the long term, consider a PM.