The book 'Built To Last' was published in 1994 by James Collins and Jerry Porras, both Stanford professors at the time. Their chief conclusion from a study of 18 top companies was that the most successful ones, including Disney, General Electric, IBM, Wal-Mar and Hewlett-Packard, had a "cherished core ideology" and the ability to pursue progress and change in every other aspect of their business. Successful companies understand what must change and also what must not change. The most successful companies are not those that pursue profit and cost-cutting but rather those that inspire a sense of purpose in their workforce and a dedication to the core values.
The point of this is that new companies in the 'dot.com' world should similarly pursue excellence rather than mediocrity, something that lasts rather than something ephemeral and shallow (like bubble-gum pop music, spit it out when it's finished). The 'Silicon Valley paradigm' is: think of a good idea, raise venture capital, grow as quickly as you can then go public or sell up; above all, do it quickly! This approach James Collins later called 'Built To Flip'. In an article he declared that this approach cannot last, that the market will eventually demand quality and will crush any 'business model' that does not produce real results.
The danger of the 'built to flip' approach is that it will kill the golden goose, that it will kill off its own ambition to make work meaningful and rewarding. Nevertheless, at least two types of company may of necessity be short-lived, one the sort that develops a new product, often in biotechnology or medical products, and the other where a company is driven by a single genius who can deliver a product quickly but cannot form an enduring company.
Summary based on 'Writing The New Economy' by John Middleton (Capstone, 2000).