it may be better to get feedback upfront instead of spinning your wheels on collecting money. idea validation seems quite important, at least in the beginning.
But if you aren’t collecting money, then you literally don’t know how much any feedback you’ve got is worth.
Even if their comments are well-meaning and made with no intent to mislead or deceive, what people say they would do in a hypothetical situation and what they actually do in a real situation can be very different, particularly where spending money is concerned.
I don't like how every single post on unicornfree tells you that the conventional wisdom is wrong, and to learn the truth you have to sign up for their online seminar.
Every post I write says that conventional wisdom -- e.g. creating a product people want & need, and charging for it -- is right. And most of my blog posts are full of value, and actionable things a reader could do right there, for free:
People who want more, have more money than time, who value an expert demonstration, and live exercises graded by a teacher… take my class. But I've known many people who had more time than money who implemented the principles in all my free content and turned that into valuable businesses.
No, not every web app needs that. It depends on the business model.