Which you can't fully do until you or someone else is offering it. Bullshit. Companies do this all the time. Hey ABCorp, it looks like filing is a major night

Which you can't fully do until you or someone else is offering it. Bullshit. Companies do this all the time. Hey ABCorp, it looks like filing is a major nightmare for you, would you be interested if in working with me to find a solution for your problem? Would you be willing to commit to paying for something if I built it? What would you think is a fair price? Etc etc. The mere act of having this conversation is the validation you are looking for. If things go really well, they may actually help you fund it prior to you being live, in exchange for a discount/preferred status etc. Advance commitments happen all the time, you just need to take the right approach and actually listen to what people are saying.