If you ask me, this phenomenon is the reason we see a lot of incredibly successful founders flail at a second startup -- and it's also the reason we see some folks continue to kick ass year after year. The first guys started believing their own press (One wag said that in SV, you either grow into the CEO role or you swell into it). They flipped, then started over -- leaving folks from the previous team spread here or there and not realizing they destroyed the magic. The second bunch just keeps honing a better and better team, moving the team into high positions of leadership. Each team member becomes a CEO, but the team survives (and continues to improve).
