I think one thing that rarely gets mentioned, is that startups get harder. As in, the more traction you show, the harder it becomes to continue that traction,

I think one thing that rarely gets mentioned, is that startups get harder. As in, the more traction you show, the harder it becomes to continue that traction, or alternatively, more traction is now expected of you. Combine this with the increasing complexity of a growing machine. Maybe PG's analogy is that at first it starts off a pinch, but grows to be a very large guillotine until you finally can outrun it.