As a recovering heroin addict (3 years sober) and a programmer I can say his metaphor is right on. I'm approaching 30 soon too and I get what he's saying. You buy some domain and a VPS for some awesome idea you're going to launch and then between your client work and running your own business all of the sudden everything falls apart.
I think the problem is working on too many projects at once. It can be close to impossible to keep track of your clients and 5 of your own projects all at once. I know that when I start a project I need to focus on it all the way or I lose steam. You get in the zone, you're familiar with all the inner workings and you're able to be productive. If you try to switch to a different project, especially if it's a half finished one, you have a hard time getting comfortable again. You end up having to relearn the code (in a way) and get into that different flow the other project had.
Also, every project has a personality. At least in my mind. It's hard to switch between projects with different "personalities" because there a lot of mental strain involved in making that transition to, say, a straight laced organization web app and a fun and exciting social network for just you and your friends.
Then there's always that temptation to learn some new technology, rent a dedicated server or get a VPS so you can be in total control and that's just sexy. I know I get a nerd boner whenever I get a new Linode and start setting it up exactly how I like it. The decisions that come with all of this setup and execution can lead to analysis paralysis.
I think the problem is working on too many projects at once. It can be close to impossible to keep track of your clients and 5 of your own projects all at once. I know that when I start a project I need to focus on it all the way or I lose steam. You get in the zone, you're familiar with all the inner workings and you're able to be productive. If you try to switch to a different project, especially if it's a half finished one, you have a hard time getting comfortable again. You end up having to relearn the code (in a way) and get into that different flow the other project had.
Also, every project has a personality. At least in my mind. It's hard to switch between projects with different "personalities" because there a lot of mental strain involved in making that transition to, say, a straight laced organization web app and a fun and exciting social network for just you and your friends.
Then there's always that temptation to learn some new technology, rent a dedicated server or get a VPS so you can be in total control and that's just sexy. I know I get a nerd boner whenever I get a new Linode and start setting it up exactly how I like it. The decisions that come with all of this setup and execution can lead to analysis paralysis.