I don't think this is necessarily true. I suspect 'successful business';

1. Start with creating something
2. That people/businesses will need/want
3. Encourage markets to the thing
4. Control value and demand
5. Explore new horizons and direct markets to them
6. Create and maintain strong brand relationships

I am like the ugali makers

I have a product which I spent a some money to develop but I have not a single client in 3 months

I might have to give it out for free to clients and count it as a social contribution!

But on idea validation as in the article, Eric Ries in The Lean Startup argues that people actually have NO IDEA ON WHAT THEY NEED LEAVE ALONE WHAT THEY'D PAY FOR.

He argues that you don't need to ask potential customers anything before you make your item. Just conceive the idea, make an inexpensive Minimum Viable Product(MVP), then collect views from clients(initial adopters) in a validated learning excercise.

This feedback process after spending little, he opines, will save you money and could help you learn better about the client's needs than if you went out to ask if they needed a machine that would make them hard ugali in a shorter period of time! You could find out in the process, that the problem is not so much the ugali making but the stew, you could then pivot your idea towards sukuma and matumbo preparation!

Worthwhile reading, thank you.

Here is another post you'd find insightful I guess

Some principles are universal but others require adaptation. In the end entrepreneurship is for some, not all.

... but alas, just 3 months later BRCK has won the Uhuru laptop tender. That Hersman fellow has unmatched connections in the tech industry. Never count him out!