[thaumaturgy]

OK, I had to laugh at this one. First off, I have a huge amount of respect for Mr. Sivers; he's one of the few advice-peddlers in the startup world that I think is probably worth listening to most of the time.

But this is quite the opposite of long-term thinking.

(Except, maybe, in the startup world, where long-term often seems to mean, "next year".)

Focusing on just one thing at a time for a few years means leaving it entirely behind when you're done with it; it means not thinking about other things in the meantime; it means ignoring the possibility that, in 10 years' time, the three projects that you're juggling simultaneously could tie together in a really neat (and maybe profitable) way.

Maybe some people are doing lots of things at once because they feel like they have to hurry, and that could indicate really short-term thinking; but slowing down to a rate of one thing every few years is, at best, near-term thinking.

I've spent the last three years building a really tiny business because, one day, I intend to build an empire.