The case for using a pre-launch checklist before building

I'm a newb here but it seems like there are dozens of projects IHers work on that go nowhere and waste massive amount of time and energy.

Would it make sense to create some sort of checklist before you start building your project? Just like a preflight checklist.

Something like:

• validated interest with a landing page signup
• validated against twitter or audience
• competitors actively making sales already
  etc.

It seems like this process should be formalized, since there's so much riding on it.

If it makes sense, what do you think should be on it?

Some ideas from my brain...

• I need to have formed a minimum viable promise. A concrete promise of what problem the product will solve that people are excited about.
• I've been able to collect X amount of emails on interest list

Also how many people need to show interest before you pull the trigger? 50, 100? What if you have no current audience, do you just drive paid traffic to it?

I think some sort of checklist could prevent a lot of heartache and lost time, in my humble opinion.