Brad Feld noted an interesting article tweeted by Tim O'Reilly on concentration, dating from 1930. As I read it I was strikingly reminded of some of the concepts advocated by Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh. Here are a couple of quick comparisons:

Article: "...the point is that when these men pitch hay, they pitch hay--when they write a book, they write a book--when they manage a sales campaign, they manage a sales campaign. That one thing they do at that one time, and nothing else, and every ounce they have goes into the doing."

Hanh: "While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes.... If we can't wash the dishes [in this focused way], the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future--and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life."

(Hanh's quotations are from "The Miracle of Mindfulness.")

Without question, the ability to focus is a huge advantage for an entrepreneur. For some of us with an extremely broad array of interests, developing such focus can be difficult, challenging our internal notions that there is value in knowing a little bit about lots of things. True, there is value there, but my experience with startups suggests that the ones with the highest chances of success are the ones who, while they are on a task, appear to have no other interest in the world than accomplishing that task.