In 2005, Twitter Co-Founder Evan Williams blogged his “Ten Rules for Web Startups” which mostly revolve around narrow focus, simplicity, agility, and execution – months before Twitter was started. Williams had previously founded Blogger, which was one of Google’s first acquisitions in 2003. At the time of writing his Ten Rules, Williams was CEO of the (since failed) Odeo.

About a year later, Williams admitted in an interview that he had not been paying attention to his own advice while running Odeo. In particular – Odeo built too much, moved too slowly, and raised too much money.

Is this type of self-awareness and ability to learn from past mistakes a necessary trait for technology leaders in general, or specific to entrepreneurs?