"""you're only as good as the last thing you did, and no one gives a shit about the last thing you did"""
I'd say the second part of this isn't true in general. You'll often be judged by past success weather that's a good metric or not as long as it roughly fits the domain. The mentioned NFL is a great example of this. Coaches that have won stuff get better job offers. It may or may not be a good indicator but that's how it is. Similarly if you've worked for Google it'll probably be easier to land jobs elsewhere (I'd argue even if the reason for your departure is that you'd be considered a mishire in retrospect).
In the domain of startups, if you've done one somewhat successfully funding gets a lot easier (which is a good advantage since you won't waste much time on it). A16Z are on record saying they'll fund people that have done startups before more liberally (in the Stanford video series).
It's a cheeky way of saying don't rest on laurels. So you landed that client? Great, now let's never speak of that again and move on to our new targets! Success or failure, there's very little profit in dwelling on things.
I'd say the second part of this isn't true in general. You'll often be judged by past success weather that's a good metric or not as long as it roughly fits the domain. The mentioned NFL is a great example of this. Coaches that have won stuff get better job offers. It may or may not be a good indicator but that's how it is. Similarly if you've worked for Google it'll probably be easier to land jobs elsewhere (I'd argue even if the reason for your departure is that you'd be considered a mishire in retrospect). In the domain of startups, if you've done one somewhat successfully funding gets a lot easier (which is a good advantage since you won't waste much time on it). A16Z are on record saying they'll fund people that have done startups before more liberally (in the Stanford video series).