“whenever we get attracted to this shiny object what happens is whatever track we're currently on we're hitting the tral of Despair and the shiny object gives us that optimism again because we start the curve all over again”

Shiny objects feel good because they reset the trough of despair

Founders abandon channels not because the channel is failing but because the current track has hit its trough — and the shiny new option restarts the optimism curve. The tell: when the current thing gets genuinely hard, that's the moment to stick, not switch. Channels need time to mature past the trough.