In an informal poll, commercialization experts agree that understanding your market opportunity is the single most important criteria for successful new ventures.  http://polls.linkedin.com/poll-results/50819/mrtbl

Yet, on occasion, I still meet many excited idea people who believe so firmly in their idea, that they block out everything to pursue the costly patenting, product development and more, only to end up broke and drowning in inventory of a gadget that has no buyers.

I do advise protecting your IP, I do advise spending wisely on R&D but there is nothing to prevent you from doing the basic components of a business plan and market research prior to spending a single dime.  You can uncover need in the market without divulging your IP and you will certainly learn key insights from your potential customers that can drive the product design so it is even better than you originally imagined.  Do your market research first and everything else will work better and you will save money and time.