Successful things become more conservative.

When you're just starting, there's no downside, but tons of upside.

As you start to become more successful, there starts to be significant downside, and the upside typically stays the same or gets smaller.

If you don't have a clear, animating ideal that is driving you, then as you get more momentum, "keeping it going as it is" fills the space.

Even things that started off as innovative–for example picking iconoclasts for a fellowship–starts becoming lower and lower variance, just continuing with what has worked well so far.

Once you have territory, you fear losing it.

Thucydides recounting a Corinthian speech that contrasts the Athenians who are "addicted to innovation" vs the Spartans who "have a genius for keeping what [they] have got."^[apb]