[michaelt]

All other things being equal, a plumber or mechanic isn't better because his/her customers are returning every 3 months instead of every few years.

Likewise, I'd rather use a dating website to meet a long-term partner (and cancel my subscription) than go on a bunch of unsuccessful dates leading to short term relationships (keeping my account open).

A dating website that is delivering what customers want /should/ have low retention. A dating website with excellent retention has probably decided retention is more important than getting their users into long-term relationships.

[brudgers]

In the context of the article, all things aren't equal because:

  new business != startup

Startups in the sense the author describes do not include ordinary plumbing and mechanical companies because such companies lack a capital structure that could allow growth to a publicly traded entity. The second example company is in a good business and it's owner can buy a boat. It could never IPO.