To be clear, I'm not trying to say this is a good way to run a startup or that anyone should do it.
In particular, I am really bad at doing more than one thing. It is one of my personal weaknesses. Some people, like my previous cofounder Andrew, are great at it. But as a result, I HAVE to be focused to get anything done. This isn't true of everyone, its just something that I finally realized about myself and its changed the way I work. My typical day literally starts with me adding to my to do list, ordering it, then knocking them out in order.
I think the idea of a startup founder with nothing to show for himself but a string of dead websites (me) advising other people on optimal strategic decisions for their startups is a bit silly. I think all those ideas I cut out are great ideas, my brain just isn't big enough to hold more than one.
Twitch.tv is possibly the best example of this phenomenon.
Justin.tv was who I meant.
This is just a reiteration of the current Internet strategy:
1. Target a niche. 2. Create a strong base. 3. Grow like mad. 4. Move into other offerings.
This is exactly what trees in a dense forest do - they grow up as fast as possible, and then when they're on top they branch out to both absorb more sunlight and prevent competing trees from outgrowing them.
So the real message is 'focus, focus, focus, until you get big and then try and do everything in your space before the second-starters outpace you.'
I'm not saying this is a bad thing - from an ecological perspective, it is very good for the forest, but not so good for the trees.