[tptacek]

Amen; this mistake killed a company I cofounded and got funded during the bubble. I'll add: you can't really build a platform without building and selling the specifics; without real customer drivers, you run out of oxygen in design and architecture wanking.

If you've built most of a "platform", you should be in a good position to turn out cool apps quickly. Hide the platform, let people wonder why you're so good.