[ggregoire]

I don't think the article is about companies building a new product before selling it. All companies do that and it works. I guess the article is more about engineers (usually one or two guys) building a product on their own (full-time or on the side of their job) before talking to any potential customer. Basically spending x months building a product then sending the first emails to companies that could be a good fit, and in most cases, don't find anyone interested in.

Yes it sounds like a stupid thing to do (and I did the same mistake). I think that's the difference between an engineer and an entrepreneur: one wants to build an app, the other one a business. Obviously you can be both, but I guess lot of people will try and eventually find out that they are more engineers than entrepreneurs.