If you had to pick a number I'd say 30 people at least. The more the better. And how many people do you need to call before you can determine this is a market problem? That's not a specific number but you want to know that it's widespread instead of concentrated on one person. A lot of people, especially people who don't like talking to people in traverse, they'll often latch on to an idea early because they don't want to talk to more people. They're too scared. But if you can notice that a problem is spread across 30 people that have no real connection to each other then there's a high chance that that is a market wide problem.
How do you come up with a good idea for your business?
Most people believe that the thing stopping them from starting their own business is a "good idea". I hear people say things like: "I just need an idea". "All the good ideas are taken" or "I had an idea for something but then somebody else did it". Most people put ideas on a pedestal and scour the earth for the right one but they're making a huge mistake. If you search for ideas you will never find one. You must go looking for problems instead.