[warrenmar]

I would do whatever I can to reduce the risks of it failing. You first need to identify the things that could keep you from succeeding and eliminate those obstacles. With an app, the most risk is probably product market risk. There's probably very little technology risk. You need to build something that people want. The only way to do that is to show it to people and see if they want it. If you're waiting in line for something, you can show your app to people around you. Watching people use your app also helps a lot with iterating. You have some concept of how your apps works, but other people may not. Also marketing to a specific target niche to gain traction. A good book for this is Crossing The Chasm.