The question is prepare more vs take a shot. Rules of thumb advocating one versus the other are abound. Sun Tzu extols the virtue of more preparation to defeat the enemy before engaging, while also recommending the warrior that does not load his supply wagons twice nor wait for a second group of reinforcements. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, Faint heart never won fair lady etc.
So there is advice advocating both, what to do?
I find that when you have an endeavor with several essential areas, example with a triathlon you need to swim bike and run to complete it. Similarly for a business you need a product-service and you need customers to sell it to etc. Then the best approach is to get your toe wet in each area to get a feel for what is involved. So a mistaken approach is to spend all your time building a product that you think is good enough before starting to talk to customers. You need parallel efforts so that you can determine the right ratio of effort in each area to succeed. In war you would prepare your army but you would also have a few guys harassing the enemy to feel them out...
So there is advice advocating both, what to do?
I find that when you have an endeavor with several essential areas, example with a triathlon you need to swim bike and run to complete it. Similarly for a business you need a product-service and you need customers to sell it to etc. Then the best approach is to get your toe wet in each area to get a feel for what is involved. So a mistaken approach is to spend all your time building a product that you think is good enough before starting to talk to customers. You need parallel efforts so that you can determine the right ratio of effort in each area to succeed. In war you would prepare your army but you would also have a few guys harassing the enemy to feel them out...