[LanceHaynie]

I try to find end users in my target market and somehow get them to use it during the process. It's a tough sell, but you can always find someone who is fed up enough to try anything new.

On the project I am currently working on, we are building software for real estate agents. I actually brought in the owner of a small firm (10 agents) as a co-founder in exchange for him forcing his team to use the application. This ended up working very well, we got instant feedback and were able to update the software generally same day. I hold regular meetings with the team, two or three times weekly, to make sure they have no roadblocks in doing their job. They are happy because we are molding the software as we go to specific needs, and we are happy because we are able to find out instantly what works and what doesnt.

We also brought in another team once we felt it was at least close to beta status. We offered them free usage of the application through public release, and then six months free after release.